Social media is work of ‘evil one’, says Scott Morrison

Scott Morrison says the misuse of social media could be the work of ‘the evil one’, instructing a Christian conference to pray against its ‘corrosive’ effects.

Scott Morrison speaks at a national Christian convention on the Gold Coast last week. Picture: Instagram

Scott Morrison has proposed the misuse of social media could be the work of “the evil one”, instructing a national Christian conference to pray against its “corrosive” effects.

The Prime Minister appeared in front of the Australian Christian Church national conference on the Gold Coast last week, where he suggested social media had the capacity to be used as a weapon.

“Sure, social media has its virtues and its values and enables us to connect with people in ways we’ve never had before,” Mr Morrison said.

“But those weapons can also be used by the evil one and we need to call that out.”

Mr Morrison is Australia’s first Pentecostal prime minister, following numerous non-evangelical Christian leaders including John Howard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull.

In the lead-up to the 2019 election, he famously invited the media into a Pentecostal church service in the south of Sydney, where he was photographed raising his hands in worship.

He told last week’s conference he looked for signs from God while campaigning for the top job, and practised the evangelical tradition of “laying-on of hands” and praying.

He said he was “called to do God’s work” when he was elected prime minister.

Further, he said he received a sign from God while visiting Ken Duncan’s art gallery on NSW’s central coast.

“And there right in front of me was the biggest picture of a soaring eagle,” he said, a reference to Isaiah 40.

“The message I got that day was, Scott, you’ve got to run to not grow weary, you’ve got to walk to not grow faint, you’ve got to spread your wings like an eagle to soar like an eagle.”

He later told the crowd he had practiced the laying-on of hands while visiting the Pilbara region in WA after Cyclone Seroja.

“I’ve been in evacuation centres where people thought I was just giving someone a hug and I was praying, and putting my hands on people … laying hands on them and praying in various situations,” he said.

“God has, I believe, been using us in those moments to be able to provide some relief and comfort and just some reassurance.”