An advertisement that argues in favor of instituting the death penalty for homosexuality appears to be running on the social media platform X.
The ad, posted this month by a Christian blogger named John White, details the country's early laws regarding homosexuality and links to another post bemoaning their removal.
"England and the 13 colonies had civil death penalty on the table for gay sex among males, the most aggressive perpetrators and teachers of such rebellion," White's ad says. "After 1789, homosexual acts were illegal in all 50 states until 1962..."
A link in the ad directs users to another post from White in which he uses a Bible verse calling for the execution of gay men as justification for bringing back such laws.
"If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads," White wrote, citing Leviticus 20:13.
"God's law is just," he added.
The ad caught the attention of numerous users on the platform, such as Eyes on the Right, an account that documents far-right content on X.
Speaking with the Daily Dot, the user said that they came across the ad under a post from podcaster Tim Pool in which he argued against "effeminate weak men" who "defend birth control."
The ad, according to its own analytics, has so far been seen over 333,000 times. Other users who came across White's post also expressed shock that such content would be approved by X for advertising.
"Literally getting an ad calling for the execution of gay people," one user wrote. "What the fuck is wrong with this app."
Many also questioned what the ad was for given that it didn't highlight any product or service. Users on X, though, can promote tweets to grow their accounts without selling a particular service.
Some users also expressed support for the ad's message.
"Totally agree. This world has been put in upside down," one respondent said. "For those letter people who choose their lifestyle that’s their choice but it has been invasive in particularly they got to our schools our children our government our military that’s over their boundaries."
The Daily Dot reached out to White over a contact form on his personal blog to inquire about the ad but did not receive a response by press time. X, which does not having a working press email, has not responded to those tagging the company either.
The ad in the wake of billionaire Elon Musk's take over of the platform, which led to a boom in extremist content. As noted by the Daily Dot last year, Musk's platform was even granting blue check subscriptions to users with the N-word in their handle.
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