YouTube To Ban Videos With Hateful Speech On Its Platform

Dhir Acharya - Jun 07, 2019


YouTube To Ban Videos With Hateful Speech On Its Platform

YouTube said that it will pull down videos which push extremist views such as white supremacy or deny events like the Sandy Hook shooting or Holocaust.

On Wednesday, YouTube said that it will pull down videos which boost extremist views such as deny events like the Sandy Hook shooting or Holocaust, as well as white supremacy. This is a new attempt from the company to fight hate speech across its video platform.

According to the new rules, YouTube prohibits all videos accusing a group of being superior to justify exclusion, segregation, or discrimination based on sexual orientation, religion, caste, race, gender, age, or veteran status.

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YouTube is removing videos and channels with hateful speech

The company didn’t reveal the specific videos or channels it will remove. There has been criticism on YouTube for how the platform enforces policies and make decisions regarding leaving up such hateful videos.

The move came after the firm’s refusal on Tuesday evening to remove famous conservative Stephen Crowder’s channel for homophobic insults against video host and writer Vox. Maza, calling him a “little queer” and “lispy sprite.”

It was stated by the video service that the video in question didn’t violate its rules. In particular, it tweeted that its team had spent several days on an in-depth review of the flagged videos, after which it found that the language used were hurtful but the videos themselves did not violate its policies, hence would remain on the website.

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YouTube went on Twitter to announce about its attempt

Also on Wednesday, according to a YouTube statement, channels brushing up against its hate speech rules will be removed, but not necessarily broken. Under the YouTube Partner Program, creators can display advertisements on their channels as well as use monetization features. In terms of other “borderline content”, the company said that it would restrict how wide the video can reach and use more authoritative content to surround it.

While Crowder’s channel hasn’t been banned yet, YouTube on Wednesday said that it would suspend the channel’s monetization.

A post on Twitter from the company says that the decision was made as the pattern of bad actions go against its Partner Program policies, harming the border community. Nevertheless, the company’s later tweet said that if Crowder solved certain problems, his channel’s monetization would be restored.

YouTube didn’t respond immediately to a comment request about further issues to fix.

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