While browsing the internet I came across this guy with multiple videos removed by YouTube. He's a 68 year old guy from Ireland who calls himself a free speech fundamentalist which is obviously a reason to have multiple YouTube vidos removed. Here is one such video that got removed two hours after it was uploaded. When I first discovered it, it was on LiveLeak. Then right after I started typing this article, I found that it was restored.
This is where I originally found the video: https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e06_1519057581
Since LiveLeak seemed sort of a platform for free speech, I did some digging. What I found out was that the site does have censorship but it's used sparingly. I have no problem with the way the censorship is being handled. The problem is that the censorship is centralized. They already have sort of a guide outlining what content is accepted and what isn't. But the site has its main server in USSA of all places. We all know how that government works. They can crash in and claim all the servers and control of the website for themselves. Anyways, here are the guidelines.
1)Media which we deem to be the glorification of graphic violence or graphic content such as graphic compilations or graphic media with insufficient information.
2)Media which is deemed to be illegal in the United States of America including, but not limited to child pornography or bestiality. In these cases the media will be removed, your account will be banned, and any information we have will be passed on to the relevant authorities.
3)Uploads showing the poster involved in criminal activity.
4)Spam or advertising media. LiveLeak.com is supported by advertising so if you wish to advertise please contact us.
5)Soft- and Hardcore pornography. We do not host softcore or hardcore pornography of any kind.
6)Videos or images depicting nudity for the purposes of / created for titillation or sexual gratification are not acceptable. This is due to several issues not least of which being age verification and copyright related. Nudity in non-pornographic uploads (not covered by the above criteria) is still acceptable i.e. News related footage which might feature nudity for any reason.
7)Media created to attack another member. This includes any media containing the personal information of another member of the site.
8)Music. Unless you are the copyright holder
Seems like a fair list and the site has YouTube for competition. One thing about capitalism is that you can only win by either going cheaper/better or being different. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) currently has a 769.648 Billion USD marketcap. There is no way to top that technologically. So they have real incentive to be a free speech platform. But that doesn't mean some government can't simply intervene. Take a look at this video which is harsh, accurate and very likely to trigger a lot of people: https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2f0_1513345261 This video had over a million views and was translated to 19 languages before getting removed.
It's common to see the same YouTuber get constantly attacked by YouTube. These flagging is carried out by a bunch of low paid grunts with nothing else to do. When they flag some content of a popular channel and spark outrage, then finally an E-mails comes saying how the content was removed erroneously. Eg: "Upon further review of the context of Pat Condell's comments, we've reinstated it." If you were wondering about the Video from the Polish Government, here it is.
The video was deemed hate speech and was originally removed. According to YouTube "Following user reports, if our review teams determine that a video is borderline under our policies, it may have some features disabled." Now here are some videos that are still floating around alive and well with no resistance from the "review teams". I'll let you be the judge. The first one isn't that terrible.
Now let's make things little softer with something bit more mild. It's just plain stupid. I'm not calling for censorship on these videos. I think as long as the production and distribution doesn't violate the NAP(Non-Aggression Principle), it should be allowed and the individual should make up their own individual conclusions.
If I sell you the next part as a comedy sketch, you might actually buy that easily. Even if you didn't watch any of the other videos watch this one. Even CNN haven't reached these levels of madness. But I'm sure they will (from a different angle)
YouTube has a staff of 10,000 that is dedicated to monitoring the video-sharing website and surely they don't pay a huge amount of money and surely those people are not very educated. It's a bunch of millennials with the power to disrupt the free flow of valuable information (political or otherwise). This is the equivalent of the security personal of a hospital taking care of patient admission.
That is the kind of people who are calling the shots. These idiots leads to spirals out of control like this:
Worst thing is that great movements like #120db gets buried under stupid non-issues including but not limited to #metoo #notmypresident notmypresident #BlackLivesMatter #OscarsSoWhite #CancelColbert and get 10 times the views and coverage compared to the one that truly needs to be supported.
Obviously I see a bright future and a lot of room to grow for DTube. But just having the tech isn't going to take us too far. We need to think critically, share information and expand our understanding of the world. Instead of deciding which kind of videos to censor, we must focus more on which is the right and which ideas to accept. I've presented you 2 kinds of videos on this article. I'm sure you guys are intelligent enough to figure out what makes sense and what doesn't. If you already understand what is good and what isn't; then why bother with censorship.
Don't throw away the material you can study with and don't let that toxic material take over your sensibilities. Enlightenment comes from within. Develop your mind and learn to be its master. Don't control and censor the world around you. Until next time, Happy steeming!
