Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Germany fines YouTube for removing video of anti-lockdown protest

mediaite.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

311–320 of 471 posts

Re: Germany fines YouTube for removing video of anti-lockdown protest

#311

Post by fnmall »

eli wrote: post #260
josefx wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think about it this way, you build something that looks like a pub, provides the services of a pub and say you are open for business. Would it be really that surprising that the state enforces laws that apply to pubs on your business or would you tell the health inspector to fuck off and open his own pub if he has problems with it?

Seems more like the government ordering you to serve a disorderly patron you previously ejected

I don't see any similarities here: A really disorderly patron is hard to avoid in a restaurant but easy to avoid on YouTube.

Then, on YouTube (or woke mailing lists) there are mostly two sides, only one of which gets censored: The one that opposes the dominant clique.

YouTube is full of filth that is kept up because it is non-political and makes money for Google. If Google were really woke, it would take down all videos that are demeaning to women (according to their ideology). They don't, because these videos are a cash cow.

Re: Germany fines YouTube for removing video of anti-lockdown protest

#312

Post by bobthechef »

throwawayswede wrote: post #2

Good. I'd rather live in chaos than a world controlled by these technocrats. Let's do Twitter while we're at it.

That's a false dichotomy. No society has ever been on any extreme, certainly not a livable one.

While there are inviolable limits to what is morally acceptable, and things you should never do, you cannot decide everything beforehand because some things are highly contingent on circumstances. So this is a never-ending process of determining those things. It's called prudence.

Re: Germany fines YouTube for removing video of anti-lockdown protest

#313

Post by tylersmith »

effie wrote: post #207
tylersmith wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> YouTube unsuccessfully argued the video violated its policies on Covid-19 “misinformation.” It sounds like YouTube's stance is that the video may cause harm to their users; one of their criteria for removal.

Recipe for chilli sauce may cause harm. It's not a good argument.

Yeah that's probably why it lost.

Re: Germany fines YouTube for removing video of anti-lockdown protest

#314

Post by CountDrewku »

yreg wrote: post #123

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I believe a website should be able to choose what videos it hosts. If it wants to host anything legal, liveleak-style - then that's fine. But if it decides to remove whatever video it wants then that also should be fine.

That's fine until a business monopolizes the entire industry and starts working in collusion with other tech companies to remove content they deem inappropriate.

Re: Germany fines YouTube for removing video of anti-lockdown protest

#315

Post by rocqua »

yreg wrote: post #123

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I believe a website should be able to choose what videos it hosts. If it wants to host anything legal, liveleak-style - then that's fine. But if it decides to remove whatever video it wants then that also should be fine.

This would work so much better in a federated model.

One where there are multiple mutually compatible YouTube providers. If your current provider has a weird content policy, then you move. If all providers have a policy you don't like, then either you start your own, or you happen to be at the fringe of society.

People so far at the fringe that they cannot gather momentum (especially on the internet) are either clearly wrong, or illegal. The second option still gives avenues for censorship. But hopefully democratic principles keep that under control.

Re: Germany fines YouTube for removing video of anti-lockdown protest

#316

Post by bobthechef »

xxpor wrote: post #10
throwawayswede wrote: post #2

Good. I'd rather live in chaos than a world controlled by these technocrats. Let's do Twitter while we're at it.

State violence is being used to force a private company to host content it finds objectionable. Who's the technocrat here?

What about private industry violence? Don't make Google out to be some victim. Private industry is pushing social changes that the US government could never dream of doing, not at this scale. Fear of government overreach needs to be balanced with fear of oligarchic overreach and corporate power.

Re: Germany fines YouTube for removing video of anti-lockdown protest

#317

Post by anonymousab »

devoutsalsa wrote: post #148
realityking wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That argument would imply that the terms of service are worthless as the platform owner can do whatever they want. That’s not how contracts work, at least not in Germany.

Imagine being responsible for writing the individual ToS for ever nation on Earth. That sounds hard.

Many ToS often contain disclaimers all over the place to the effect of "this doesn't apply in cities/states/provinces/countries where the law says otherwise" and catch-alls to that effect. Sometimes that's enough, sometimes not; if the company still tries to enforce rules in a region where they are invalid then the ToS is simply even more meaningless.

Re: Germany fines YouTube for removing video of anti-lockdown protest

#318

Post by meltedcapacitor »

ApolloFortyNine wrote: post #266
zucker42 wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think Germany "nationalizing" YouTube is less extreme than this ruling?

Forcing Google to host content against their will is pretty close. I guess in this case it's better than nationalizing though, Google has to pay for the hosting, and you get to tell Google they're not allowed to delete videos.

They did not delete it because it was unprofitable to host.

If they want to diminish the impact legally and profitably, they can just drown it in in more intrusive ads.

Re: Germany fines YouTube for removing video of anti-lockdown protest

#319

Post by xdennis »

hvac wrote: post #45
silicon2401 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if you would agree to the following equivalent: > State violence is being used to force a christian bakery to bake (gay/muslim/etc) cakes it finds objectionable. Who's the villain here? The more you open service to the public, the more control over your output you lose because then it becomes a matter of discrimination.

Having a certain political opinion is not a protected class in the US

It is in some cases (such as employment) in certain states. Ironically they were often enacted by left wing legislators, but are now being used to defend right wingers.

Re: Germany fines YouTube for removing video of anti-lockdown protest

#320

Post by CountDrewku »

namlem wrote: post #142
partiallypro wrote: post #65

Merkel has stated that she didn't believe it was good that Facebook/Twitter banned Trump from their platforms fwiw.

I don't see why Trump should be above the terms of service that all other users have to abide by.

You're right the tos should be equally applied across the board. However, they're not. Twitter and other social media sites do not apply tos fairly.
Post reply on HN