We thought the Church of Scientology was getting smart about how public relations and the interwebs mix: If you fight a scandal, it will only grow bigger, and online, it grows about 5,000,000X faster than The Blob.
They saw that when Tom Cruise's birthday videos popped up online. They saw that when Anonymous began attacking the church.
And now they're seeing it again with their attempts to silence actor Jason Beghe, whose Scientology-critical video racked up hundreds of thousands of views before the church managed to get YouTube to pull it. If Beghe's story wasn't a media hit to begin with, the attempts to kill it (when it had already been seen by so many) are only fueling the controversy.
Case in point: Videographer Mark Bunker, of XenuTV, who filmed the Beghe video, now has a new talking point:
Editorial Director
Boo Scientology! Let Jason speak his mind freely.
Hey Mark, wanted to let you know that I just emailed YouTube and requested that your account be restored. I really enjoy your posts. Down with the cult of greed and intimidation that is scientology!
Let him talk! Speech freedom