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YouTube to remove content that alleges widespread election fraud

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Re: YouTube to remove content that alleges widespread election fraud

#21

Post by drchopchop »

macspoofing wrote: post #4

For God's sakes ... What underpins this need for social media companies to virtue signal about protecting 'election integrity' is the false notion that 2016 was stolen from Hillary by the Russians - a claim that had no evidential support (and no, that some trolls bought a minuscule amount of Facebook ads does not raise this claim to that level) but the entire Democratic party, with media allies, promulgated for the l…

The problem is the "regular open discussion", which has turned into a cesspool of fact-free ranting, and has created serious societal virality and negative impact.

You can rant against the mainstream media, but at least there is a modicum of fact checking and research there -- how many independent YouTube sources do the same?

Re: YouTube to remove content that alleges widespread election fraud

#22

Post by gaurav90sharma »

macspoofing wrote: post #4

For God's sakes ... What underpins this need for social media companies to virtue signal about protecting 'election integrity' is the false notion that 2016 was stolen from Hillary by the Russians - a claim that had no evidential support (and no, that some trolls bought a minuscule amount of Facebook ads does not raise this claim to that level) but the entire Democratic party, with media allies, promulgated for the l…

I guess the difference between 2016 and 2020 outcomes is that democrats at least didn't create any ruckus during the power transfer from Obama to Trump . Plus, since the Democrats did it , the Republicans have a right to create a bigger ruckus is not justified. Also the Russian interference was more about social media influence rather than raising questions on election or voter integrity. A lot of Trump supporters are openly coming out with arms these days , hence propagating rigged election claims is or so more dangerous.

Re: YouTube to remove content that alleges widespread election fraud

#23

Post by rayiner »

This is an enormous overreach.

> Given that, we will start removing any piece of content uploaded today (or anytime after) that misleads people by alleging that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, in line with our approach towards historical U.S. Presidential elections. For example, we will remove videos claiming that a Presidential candidate won the election due to widespread software glitches or counting errors.

These same claims are being made in ongoing court cases. It's far out of Google's ambit to claim to resolve "the truth" at this juncture.

Its also deeply hypocritical to claim that this is "in line with [Google's] approach towards historical U.S. Presidential elections. It took me 2 seconds to find videos claiming that the "GOP hacked/stole the 2004 election.": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=batAXTWBjMo

Re: YouTube to remove content that alleges widespread election fraud

#24

Post by JoeAltmaier »

rubyist5eva wrote: post #9
mmastrac wrote: post #5

Jeez. They could have been doing this for the last month before it became endemic. How much damage did the Trump team do to America's democracy with a month of sore-losership?

Probably the same amount of damage that Gore did in about 1.5 months of sore-losership.

? That was very much closer, and subject to reasonable recounts. This egregious slandering of any state that voted for Biden is of a different nature altogether.

306 to 232 - I mean, get real. Recounts at this stage (or really, any stage since election night) are rabble rousing pointless grandstanding.

Re: YouTube to remove content that alleges widespread election fraud

#25

Post by firloop »

smt88 wrote: post #6
firloop wrote: post #3

> Yesterday was the safe harbor deadline for the U.S. Presidential election and enough states have certified their election results to determine a President-elect. Given that, we will start removing any piece of content uploaded today (or anytime after) that misleads people by alleging that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election... This is likely going to make a lot of c…

As far as I know, no senator is seriously contesting the results. The House always has at least a few crackpots in it, now including a Q believer. I'm not sure why YouTube should cater to conspiracy theorists just because they'll get upset that their conspiracies are not blasted from YouTube's megaphone. YT is within its rights, and there are thousands of other video sharing services (including Mega, which is totally…

Ted Cruz is at least one Senator fighting the election results: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/529146-cruz-offers-to-ar...

Re: YouTube to remove content that alleges widespread election fraud

#26

Post by jeltz »

chrisco255 wrote: post #12
mmastrac wrote: post #5

Jeez. They could have been doing this for the last month before it became endemic. How much damage did the Trump team do to America's democracy with a month of sore-losership?

There's video evidence of Republican poll watchers being thrown out of key precincts in swing states, with hundreds of thousands of ballots being counted overnight with no chain of custody, signature verification, or oversight from opposing parties. THAT is damaging to democracy. That has to be addressed and not suppressed.

Trump would almost certainly have lost either way, but it is ridiculous how bad some states are at guaranteeing the integrity of the election. Those states really need to get their shit together.

Re: YouTube to remove content that alleges widespread election fraud

#27

Post by mmastrac »

rayiner wrote: post #23

This is an enormous overreach. > Given that, we will start removing any piece of content uploaded today (or anytime after) that misleads people by alleging that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, in line with our approach towards historical U.S. Presidential elections. For example, we will remove videos claiming that a Presidential candidate won the election due to…

> These same claims are being made in ongoing court cases.

Of which what % have been tossed? 95%+? And the one (!) that hasn't have had zero impact on the results.

The election is over. Biden won. The votes will be certified, but not after Trump's team has done a great deal of damage to the American democracy.

Re: YouTube to remove content that alleges widespread election fraud

#28

Post by bamboozled »

smt88 wrote: post #6
firloop wrote: post #3

> Yesterday was the safe harbor deadline for the U.S. Presidential election and enough states have certified their election results to determine a President-elect. Given that, we will start removing any piece of content uploaded today (or anytime after) that misleads people by alleging that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election... This is likely going to make a lot of c…

As far as I know, no senator is seriously contesting the results. The House always has at least a few crackpots in it, now including a Q believer. I'm not sure why YouTube should cater to conspiracy theorists just because they'll get upset that their conspiracies are not blasted from YouTube's megaphone. YT is within its rights, and there are thousands of other video sharing services (including Mega, which is totally…

I don’t understand why you’re downvoted for this either.

YouTube isn’t a public utility and they don’t have to publish things they don’t like.

Disclaimer: I don’t really like YouTube and I think it would indeed be better if the internet was less centralised for this very reason.

Re: YouTube to remove content that alleges widespread election fraud

#29

Post by Moway »

firloop wrote: post #3

> Yesterday was the safe harbor deadline for the U.S. Presidential election and enough states have certified their election results to determine a President-elect. Given that, we will start removing any piece of content uploaded today (or anytime after) that misleads people by alleging that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election... This is likely going to make a lot of c…

Anyone who hasn't seen the video of the 2016 post-Trump-election meeting at Google should watch it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRf9UxsM-NE

It should give you an idea about what kind of ideological bias you can expect from this company.

Re: YouTube to remove content that alleges widespread election fraud

#30

Post by quotemstr »

drchopchop wrote: post #21
macspoofing wrote: post #4

For God's sakes ... What underpins this need for social media companies to virtue signal about protecting 'election integrity' is the false notion that 2016 was stolen from Hillary by the Russians - a claim that had no evidential support (and no, that some trolls bought a minuscule amount of Facebook ads does not raise this claim to that level) but the entire Democratic party, with media allies, promulgated for the l…

The problem is the "regular open discussion", which has turned into a cesspool of fact-free ranting, and has created serious societal virality and negative impact. You can rant against the mainstream media, but at least there is a modicum of fact checking and research there -- how many independent YouTube sources do the same?

Why should regular people trust the Bay Area perspective on what counts as "fact-free ranting"? Tech has no legitimate authority to decide what is true. The mindset and moral system that's overwhelmingly dominant in tech is abhorrent to much of the rest of the country and the world. Why should this prominent but fringe Bay Area mentality dominate?

It's simply not tech's place to be making these calls. It's arrogance and hubris and it's going to lead to a backlash.

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