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YouTube takes down Xinjiang videos, forcing rights group to seek alternative

reuters.com

11–20 of 269 posts

Re: YouTube takes down Xinjiang videos, forcing rights group to seek alternative

#11
post #7

I'm sure YT is going to trot out some stock reason for not re-instating the videos. But this is pathetic. When YT goes on a bandwagon for some cause or other, this doesn't happen, but it appears to happen when the politics don't align with either their own politics or may offend one of their markets or their sponsors. So, I guess it's their platform and they can do what they want, but there is a danger that this will…

This is kind of a new thing for society though. We used to have many media outlets, corporations, and governments. Now most media outlets are owned by a very few corporations, and they are tightly entangled with government interests globally.

Re: YouTube takes down Xinjiang videos, forcing rights group to seek alternative

#12
post #7

I'm sure YT is going to trot out some stock reason for not re-instating the videos. But this is pathetic. When YT goes on a bandwagon for some cause or other, this doesn't happen, but it appears to happen when the politics don't align with either their own politics or may offend one of their markets or their sponsors. So, I guess it's their platform and they can do what they want, but there is a danger that this will…

YouTubers have no alternative platform for their content if they want ads but advertisers have new options every month when another TV network drops a streaming app. The incentives are super clear.

Re: YouTube takes down Xinjiang videos, forcing rights group to seek alternative

#13
post #3

I can understand the copyright stuff because Google can’t possibly afford the fight against the MPAA/RIAA. Why wade into politics though? What gain does Google obtain through political censorship?

Follow the money.

Re: YouTube takes down Xinjiang videos, forcing rights group to seek alternative

#14

Conspiracy nuts and other unsavory members from fringe communities do make for odd bedfellows when one is being actively censored, thus why I am loathe to promote Bitchute et al. Best second alternative would be their own Peertube instance, but that of course requires them to put up their own infrastructure.

Do you want freedom or authoritarianism?

Re: YouTube takes down Xinjiang videos, forcing rights group to seek alternative

#15

Conspiracy nuts and other unsavory members from fringe communities do make for odd bedfellows when one is being actively censored, thus why I am loathe to promote Bitchute et al. Best second alternative would be their own Peertube instance, but that of course requires them to put up their own infrastructure.

What about Odysee (LBRY) [1]? Seems promising.

[1]https://odysee.com

Re: YouTube takes down Xinjiang videos, forcing rights group to seek alternative

#16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a hunch that a lot of division in the US atleast has some role or interference from Russia/China. No proof, but to me it makes sense and it is so easy to do, we've seen it happen in the past (Cambridge Analytica), and if I were an adversary of the United States, I would be trivial to sow discord amongst the populace. We're currently witnessing some fractures in the US military leadership as well. I don't mean…

Can you elaborate on the fractures in militrlary leadership you mentioned? Or point me to somewhere I can learn more?

Tom Cotton is challenging the CRT take in the military citing some divisions between 'conservates' and 'liberal' members of the military raised by whistleblowers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtgnIXnvxlw

Also, in the recent news, many conservates are calling off General Milley after his rather heated exchange with Gaetz. I am sure you can find the source.

Re: YouTube takes down Xinjiang videos, forcing rights group to seek alternative

#17

Conspiracy nuts and other unsavory members from fringe communities do make for odd bedfellows when one is being actively censored, thus why I am loathe to promote Bitchute et al. Best second alternative would be their own Peertube instance, but that of course requires them to put up their own infrastructure.

The conspiracy nuts are crazy, I agree, but they are also opposed to oppression so they are our allies.

Be wary of the "divide and conquer" strategy when it is being used by oppressive regimes and various governments.

Re: YouTube takes down Xinjiang videos, forcing rights group to seek alternative

#18
post #2

And yet these platforms are actively disseminating Chinese propaganda about the issue: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/22/technology/xi...

I have a hunch that a lot of division in the US atleast has some role or interference from Russia/China. No proof, but to me it makes sense and it is so easy to do, we've seen it happen in the past (Cambridge Analytica), and if I were an adversary of the United States, I would be trivial to sow discord amongst the populace. We're currently witnessing some fractures in the US military leadership as well. I don't mean…

Here's some evidence to support your hunch about Russia:

> Across our interviews, our respondents [former and current RT journalists] agreed that the goals of the channel [RT] since 2008 have been and still are as follows. First, to push the idea that Western countries have as many problems as Russia. Second, to encourage conspiracy theories about media institutions in the West in order to discredit and delegitimize them. This is clearly adherent to the channel's “Questions More” slogan. Third, to create controversy and to make people criticize the channel, because it suggests that the channel is important, an approach that would particularly help RT managers get more funding from the government.

-- “Anything that Causes Chaos”: The Organizational Behavior of Russia Today (RT), https://academic.oup.com/joc/article/70/5/623/5912109

Re: YouTube takes down Xinjiang videos, forcing rights group to seek alternative

#19
post #7

I'm sure YT is going to trot out some stock reason for not re-instating the videos. But this is pathetic. When YT goes on a bandwagon for some cause or other, this doesn't happen, but it appears to happen when the politics don't align with either their own politics or may offend one of their markets or their sponsors. So, I guess it's their platform and they can do what they want, but there is a danger that this will…

> it's their platform and they can do what they want

this is not true for monopolies, AT&T can't disconnect your line because they don't like what you're saying on your calls.

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