ONLINE CENSORSHIP

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I know none of us like to be drawn out of our escapist hobby here at RMN, but this is something everybody should watch, period. It's a subject that directly affects the future of the internet, the nature of free speech, and is whole magnitudes higher in severity than the EU's Article 13.

https://www.bitchute.com/video/re9Xp6cdkro/

It's hosted on bitchute because youtube (Google) keeps taking the video down.

In summary, Google is deliberately manipulating their search algorithms to hide certain news and content. The video includes a bald-faced admission by Google's Head of Responsible Innovation stating that they intend to directly interfere in American elections going forward. In her own words in the video, they "wanted to be ready by 2020", and when the recent antitrust action is mentioned, she says that it shouldn't happen because Google has the resources to "prevent the next Trump situation" (ie. the victory of a candidate they don't desire).

Even if you don't have a problem with conservatives and the right wing being censored today, you should still take issue with the idea that a major corporation is able to steer the national discussion at it's own behest. The way censorship always works is that it starts with one subject of controversy, then easily moves to another subject because the apparatus is already there. Whose to say that, five years from now, Google's next CEO won't take a hard fascistic turn and directs the algorithms to promote his own ideas?
This affects us all. North Americans, Europeans, Asians, everybody. Share the video. This can't be allowed to go unopposed.
Kloe
I lost my arms in a tragic chibi accident
2236
I mean, there are a lot of issues with Youtube at the moment with censorship and such, but there isn't a whole lot more we can do.

There's an awkward line to be drawn, especially on the right, to stop certain posts which will promote violence and bigotry (See Neo-Nazism, Christian Nationalism and White Supremacy) but Youtube has tended, and still does, to censor people on both sides of the isle, especially with labeling LGBT content as 'not child friendly' in certain cases, for example, and preventing their employees from protesting against unfair exploitation of the LGBT community.

That being said, sharing a sketchy video isn't the best course here. Protesting terms of conditions, reporting innappropriate videos and such is far more important, such as pushing back against increasingly harsh terms of service as seen on Tumblr and Facebook and others recently. This isn't just a Youtube issue, and not a right-wing issue as you're suggesting. Censorship and blocking happens all the time, take everything from the Article 13 you mentioned to the idiotic 'porn ban' the UK government tried and failed.
Genuinely not sure how we can stop this other than raising awareness of issues and critical thinking lessons in schools, holding Youtube and others to firm and well kept Terms of Use and so on. I mean that and labeling videos accurately based on sponserships and such, so we know who pays for us being shown what we are.

And before anyone says it, Freedom of Speech =/= Freedom of Platform, seriously if people start conflating the two I'm gonna tear my hair out.

tl;dr YouTube has multiple issues with censorship and whatnot but this isn't the way to go about protesting that, and futhermore it's part of a greater societal and internet trend that we need to combat as a whole, not just Youtube and not just 'censorship of the right'.
Two things.
1) No Left vs Right paradigm here, please. It's not the issue, and it's a conversational blind alley anyway.
2) It stopped being a "sketchy video" after the US Senate held hearings on it yesterday.



The attitude of 'there's not much we can do so we should do nothing' can disappear too.
just dont use google. There are loads of search engines

as for a big company trying to control elections, that has always been happening since before google existed (e.g. funding a candidate's campaign) I suppose that google is a company that specializes in information flow so they have more power than your average gigantic corporation
unity
You're magical to me.
12540
I'm tired of the censorship debates. I'm also tired of the "it's not political! Don't make this left vs right" attitude. It's always political and it's always super obvious because those who claim to hate censorship don't give a damn about censorship that doesn't effect them negatively.

I have seen so many cases of censorship where the "censorship is wrong" crowd conveniently ignores it because, hey, it's technically helping their goals. It's the height of hypocrisy. This has been going on for ages and is nothing new.
Kloe
I lost my arms in a tragic chibi accident
2236
author=Dyhalto
It stopped being a "sketchy video" after the US Senate held hearings on it yesterday.
You really should have led with that video, it's far more insightful, I still agree your first source was abyssmal, it's from a site known primarily for hosting white nationalist garbage, and has been denounced by most companies, such as Patreon. The video itself contains a sillouete with a silly voice mod, with a google logo and ridiculous arguments including using autofill to make some idiotic points, about boogeymen manually deleting autofill suggestions, a "SJW agenda" and so on.
Whereas an actual Senate hearing on the matter is important, it shows there are being steps to combat this despite reluctance to improve election security by certain people, as well you know.

The point is, yes, there's an issue with censorship on YouTube, that's true, but don't ask people to share an idiotic video on it, instead this Senate inquiry is a much better approach.
Futhermore "being ready for 2020" and "preventing the next Trump situation" seems far more about election security and preventing interferance, something Google should be doing, by providing transparent and fair hosting, and preventing faked or untrue content as best it can.

author=Dyhalto
The attitude of 'there's not much we can do so we should do nothing' can disappear too.
We shouldn't do nothing, we need as individuals to stand up against that and steps such as a senate inquiry are a good start, but I disagree that "there's not much we can do so we should share stupid videos". If you have an individual problem with a specific video, or content creator, raise that, report videos and send emails to Google.
A good start would be standing up for issues that don't just suit your own agenda, which is why I raised the point about LGBT exclusion and discrimination on the platform.

author=Dyhalto
Google has the resources to "prevent the next Trump situation" (ie. the victory of a candidate they don't desire).
YouTube needs to take a stand against 'fake news' and bigoted content, to 'prevent the next Trump situation' because another Trump situation is, as we've seen through Mueller's inquiries and the Cambridge Analytica scandal, manipulation of the internet as a weapon against democratic elections via misleading, erroneous or fake content. It is not to stop the 'victory of a candidate they don't desire' but to ensure that fairness is achieved, regardless of outcome.
Hexatona
JESEUS MIMLLION SPOLERS
3702
I'd be a bit more amenable to the online censorship argument being bi-partisan if one side of the alley wasn't doing 95% of the shitposting.
i cannot take that video or ted cruz seriously
The claim that free speech is under attack is often a mask for other political frustrations and fears. The far right have successfully concocted a crisis of 'freedom of speech' and it seems that a lot of people have bought into it. Speech has arguably never been freer. The barrier to publish has been reduced significantly. These free speech warriors sounds like to me to be championing something else - the "right" to be heard, perhaps. Dwindling numbers of people championing and believing in conservative and right-wing ideals does means dwindling influence in this age, but dwindling interest isn't censorship.

Besides, free market isn't free speech, and we shouldn't conflate those.


Anyways, this topic is going to devolve into a lot of anger and frustration with little to no discernible benefit. I am going to preempt that on my platform by locking this thread.
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