Computer Security Company "Unblocks" Liberty Counsel

ORLANDO, FL - Norton Security Software, the anti-virus software company owned by Symantec that blocked users from the Liberty Counsel website stating it contains "hate" content, has now backed down. Norton acted in response to Liberty Counsel's letter demanding an immediate review and reversal of the "hate" classification which blocked users from the website (www.LC.org). Norton "Support" lists various website categories and defines "hate" as "websites that advocate hostility or aggression toward an individual or group on the basis of race, religion, gender, nationality, ethnic origin, or other involuntary characteristics and sites that denigrate others or justify inequality on the basis of those characteristics." However, Liberty Counsel does not advocate hostility or aggression toward anyone and does not justify inequality on any of the categories.

As soon as Liberty Counsel learned that its website was blocked by Norton, a demand letter was sent to unblock the site because it does not contain hate. Norton unblocked the site and reviewed its content. Yesterday, Liberty Counsel received a written response that Norton's review concluded the site does not promote hate and should not be blocked. Liberty Counsel recently filed a lawsuit against the charity watchdog GuideStar for mislabeling Liberty Counsel as a hate group to deter potential donors. GuideStar is using the caustic and false rhetoric from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which blatantly claims "Our criteria for a 'hate group,' [has] nothing to do with criminality or violence or any kind of guess we're making about 'this group could be dangerous.' It's strictly ideological." SPLC's editor also stated. "I want to say plainly that our aim in life is to destroy these groups, to completely destroy them..." The SPLC is linked to two shootings in the Washington D.C. area. The SPLC admitted James Hodgkinson, "liked" their page on Facebook. Hodgkinson is the D.C. shooter who gunned down Rep. Steve Scalise, two staff members and two U.S. Capitol Police officers. The SPLC targeted Rep. Scalise with their rhetoric. Prior to that, the SPLC was linked to the attempted mass murder in the 2012 shooting at the Washington, D.C. office of the Family Research Council (FRC). Floyd Corkins confessed to the FBI that he intended to commit mass murder and was motivated by the SPLC's so-called "Hate Map" that listed FRC as a "hate group." "Pro-family values are not a computer virus," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. "Liberty Counsel is a pro bono litigation, education and policy organization and has nothing to do with 'hate.' We are pleased that Norton Security Software took the correct action and unblocked our website. Liberty Counsel opposes violence and hate. The SPLC's false, defamatory and dangerous hate rhetoric must stop," said Staver.