Pro-Scientology Group Buys Twitter Ads Comparing HBO Doc To UVA Rape Story

Director Alex Gibney, left, Sara Bernstein, Senior Vice President of Programming for HBO Documentaries, and author/producer Lawrence Wright, right, attend the premiere of "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of B... Director Alex Gibney, left, Sara Bernstein, Senior Vice President of Programming for HBO Documentaries, and author/producer Lawrence Wright, right, attend the premiere of "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief" during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP) MORE LESS
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A pro-Scientology Twitter account bought a series of “promoted tweets” that appeared online Monday slamming a new HBO documentary about the church, comparing the film to Rolling Stone’s retracted report on a campus rape at the University of Virginia.

“Is Alex Gibney’s Upcoming HBO ‘Documentary’ a Rolling Stone/UVA Redux?” read the banner included in the tweets.

The account, @FreedomEthics, bought promotional space on Twitter for its tweets criticizing the film, based on Lawrence Wright’s highly critical expose of Scientology, “Going Clear.”

Scientology has gained notoriety for its confrontational relationship to critical media, publishing a screed entitled “Anderson Cooper: A History Of Lies” after the CNN anchor launched a special investigation into claims of abuse within the organization.

A screengrab of one of the promoted tweets:

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Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for imkmu3 imkmu3 says:

    You forgot the hashtag.

  2. Avatar for iann iann says:

    “Is Alex Gibney’s upcoming HBO documentary a Rolling Stone/UVA Redux”? I don’t know? I have to watch it to find out. I may have ignored it otherwise. But now I’ll make it a point to watch it. Thanks Scientology!

  3. Avatar for dnl dnl says:

    This Shit happens when cults become lamestream.

  4. choich of skientowelogy: too busy loving the money to hate the gays

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