This article summarizes and investigates a story broken by Paul Joseph Watson on Infowars.com and shared with commentary by ZeroHedge.com.
YouTube has “declared war” on politically incorrect opinions by producing what it calls, a new “advertiser friendly” policy. The net result of this new policy is the stripping of offensive video producers and sharers of the right to earn money from their endeavors. This de-monetization policy has caused uproar across the YouTube community for its restrictive nature.
YouTube Defends Punishing Politically Incorrect Opinions: ‘We’ve Been Doing it For Years’ – https://t.co/vKO4rJ9no3 pic.twitter.com/jovT1mgxEz
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) September 2, 2016
Due to this rule change, it now reserves the right to remove advertising revenue from content it deems to use rude language, show partial or full nudity, and most troubling of all, to discuss topics such as wars and tragedies, even if no graphic content is included.
In one fell swoop, the company has disincentivized YouTubers from openly discussing topics deemed politically incorrect or sensitive. Furthermore, it clamps down on users hoping to express controversial opinions and not lose their income. Paul Joseph Watson has likened this to the Chinese social credit score system widely discussed earlier this year which punishes private users who express unpopular views on social media.
Already reports are suggesting that the new policy is far wider in reach than anticipated from its wording because content as diverse as acne solutions and tips to combatting depression are being demonetized because they are not advertiser friendly. It does make you wonder if such videos need to discuss Pokemon’s spot problems or social anxiety instead.
Not everyone, however, is crying foul over the changes – in fact some are denying there have been any changes at all. The Verge’s Adi Robertson believes that nothing has really changed except everything, well, that is to say the policy remains the same, but YouTube have improved their notification system. While Forbes’ Erik Kain says it isn’t new and it isn’t censorship, though he does concede that “the video website’s bots may be a bit overaggressive at the moment.”
Prominent YouTubers have vowed to continue on regardless including Philip DeFranco while Matt Drudge has warned of a new round of social media led ghettoization of politically incorrect opinions. His warning, however, was made over a year prior to these changes being made. Would you like to know exactly how these rules are going to affect you? Check out this ironically YouTube friendly video on Advertiser Friendly content while we go and Google “10 YouTube Alternatives that allow freedom of speech.”
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