YouTube removes “I Can't Believe You've Done This” video from 2007
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Re: YouTube removes “I Can't Believe You've Done This” video from 2007
#2I kind of get it. Punching someone outside a boxing ring is pretty much always a bad move. A funny video where the funny part seems to be an unsuspecting person getting punched may "encourage violence". (I don't feel this way, but I could understand the reasoning.)
The cat is out of the bag on this one though. So much so, that I'd argue the video now has cultural and historical significance that justifies its wanton violence. That is to say, even a general purpose video platform that forbade violence should probably still allow war documentaries.
Re: YouTube removes “I Can't Believe You've Done This” video from 2007
#3I kind of get it. Punching someone outside a boxing ring is pretty much always a bad move. A funny video where the funny part seems to be an unsuspecting person getting punched may "encourage violence". (I don't feel this way, but I could understand the reasoning.) The cat is out of the bag on this one though. So much so, that I'd argue the video now has cultural and historical significance that justifies its wanton…
>I don't feel this way, but I could understand the reasoning.
A vanishingly rare sentiment.
Re: YouTube removes “I Can't Believe You've Done This” video from 2007
#4This is truly wrong. Far from censorship, this is a field test of memory-holing. Deleting a part of the history of the Internet (yes, this silly little nonsense video is now part of Modern Culture) is a Rubicon I'm shocked YouTube has the temerity to cross. I can't wait to see what more conventional history they'll delete.
For now, note the conscious blowing-off, on YouTube's part, of all the re-uploads. Will they also get got? If not, why not?
I-- I can't believe they've done this.
Re: YouTube removes “I Can't Believe You've Done This” video from 2007
#5At this point, Google is pretty much the fae folk of tech: immensely powerful beings with inscrutable motives and mercurial dispositions, inclined to rain ruin on your head at the slightest provocation or even just on a whim. Best to leave a saucer of milk out for them at night, and studiously avoid the areas they control if you value your anything.
Re: YouTube removes “I Can't Believe You've Done This” video from 2007
#6The fact that people continue to be surprised by actions like this, betrays a lack of understanding of how content moderation works, and a willful lack of education on the part of YouTube.
This video was taken down because 2 or 3 people reported it in short succession. Those reports flagged it for review by a human moderator, who removed it.
If it had never been reported, it would have stayed up. If no one ever reported it, it's possible a human never reviewed it in those 14 years.
The 14 years it was up doesn't mean YouTube reviewed it previously and decided to keep it.
If YouTube did a better job explaining exactly how its content moderation works, outrage like this might be less common. However YouTube doesn't explain better because it encourages gaming the system and report-brigading.
Re: YouTube removes “I Can't Believe You've Done This” video from 2007
#7This isn't a great specific example (it's "just" a meme and not even a particularly culturally significant one in the grand scheme of things), but in general this is why projects like youtube-dl are important.
It might not be glamorous, and it might be a little stupid, but damnit this is our culture, for better or worse! And we should preserve it.
Private companies seem to be the only ones with the resources to store all the video content we produce, and they're also exactly the wrong ones to be hosting our collective shared culture for posterity.
It's a shame a torrenting-based youtube wouldn't really work for various reasons, both legal and social.
So, short of that, at least being able to download stuff important to us as individuals is an important right to preserve.
My personal stake in this fight is a video of "Scotland the Brave" that I used to listen to a lot, which featured an older Scottish gentleman standing in the beautiful highlands, loudly and proudly calling down through the glen.
It got randomly copyright-removed recently and I've been unable to find it elsewhere. I don't even know who the person in the video was.
Re: YouTube removes “I Can't Believe You've Done This” video from 2007
#8Here is my open letter to people working for Google:
Dear googlers: Quit. You’ll make plenty elsewhere; just stop ruining the Internet please.
Re: YouTube removes “I Can't Believe You've Done This” video from 2007
#9This is truly wrong. Far from censorship, this is a field test of memory-holing. Deleting a part of the history of the Internet (yes, this silly little nonsense video is now part of Modern Culture) is a Rubicon I'm shocked YouTube has the temerity to cross. I can't wait to see what more conventional history they'll delete. For now, note the conscious blowing-off, on YouTube's part, of all the re-uploads. Will they al…
I think you are confusing Youtube with a NGO. Google is a for profit company. Their mission is to make money, not to archive the internet.
They are not your friend. Nor anybody's friend.
Re: YouTube removes “I Can't Believe You've Done This” video from 2007
#10The fact that people continue to be surprised by actions like this, betrays a lack of understanding of how content moderation works, and a willful lack of education on the part of YouTube. This video was taken down because 2 or 3 people reported it in short succession. Those reports flagged it for review by a human moderator, who removed it. If it had never been reported, it would have stayed up. If no one ever repor…
If you don't think a meme sensation video that's received millions of views and copycats hasn't been reported thousands of times over the years, for any reason, or no reason, just because people can, because people want to watch the world burn; I want to come live in your world.