Yelp Review of Austin Ridge Church
Artist: Andrew Bushard
Year: 2024
Date of Action: August 2024
Region: North America
Location: San Fransciso, CA
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion, Religion
Medium: Internet
Confronting Bodies: Yelp
Description of Artwork: Circa 2022 or 2023, Andrew Bushard reviewed Austin Ridge Church on Yelp (based on his experiences which he described in detail in "95 Theses Against Fundamentalism". The review contained the following text:
"A church of Pharisees.
They get bent out of shape over romance novellas, but they don't wear masks during pandemics. Vulgarity offends them, but spreading deadly viruses does not.
They give lip service to supporting America, yet they argue against what the First Amendment and the Constitution stands for"
Yelp emailed Andrew Bushard telling him they removed the review, because "it violated Yelp's terms of service".
The Incident: Yelp emailed Andrew Bushard telling him the review "violated Yelp's terms of service" Andrew Bushard responded, requesting clarification on what specific part of the review violated the terms of service. Yelp would not provide clarification. Andrew Bushard reported Yelp to the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern Coastal California Better Business Bureau.
Results of Incident: the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern Coastal California Better Business Bureau meditated between Yelp and Andrew Bushard. Andrew Bushard again sought clarification on what specific aspect of the review violated the review policy. Yelp would not disclose. Andrew Bushard deduced it was the verbiage "A church of Pharisees". Andrew Bushard asked Yelp if he could rewrite the review without the offending parts, as the world needs to know that Austin Ridge Church did not comply with masking recommendations during COVID-19. Yelp agreed he could repost a review that didn't violate the terms of service. Andrew Bushard thus rewrote the review as follows "I attended a small group during the pandemic and none of them, including the pastors and other leaders, wore masks. I was the only one who wore a mask." Yelp accepted the review and did not take it down.
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