Clamping down on Trump disinformation too little, too late

YouTube has temporarily banned President Donald Trump’s channel from uploading new videos or livestreams after earlier content violated policies for inciting violence, the company said late on Tuesday.

The channel cannot upload for a minimum of seven days – which may be extended, and earlier content had been removed, Youtube said in a statement. It did not give details about the video that prompted the move.

[...]

YouTube said it would also disable comments underneath videos on Trump’s channel.

The move comes amid a push to combat misinformation and the incitement of violence online, after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building last week trying to halt the certification by Congress of President-elect Joe Biden’s election win.

Following the riot, social media platforms including Facebook removed Trump’s account and Twitter tightened enforcement around misinformation policies. Amazon.com Inc suspended Parler, a social media platform favored by many supporters of Trump, from its web hosting service.

  Guardian

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Trump needs to get his new platform up and running so his slimeball abetters have a place to put their shit

YouTube Political Economic Censorship

YouTube stands accused of censorship, following the company’s decision to bar former Congressman Ron Paul and his online news program from receiving advertising revenue for a number of videos which Paul recently posted.

Upon “manual review,” the website has found a series of videos posted by the Ron Paul Liberty Report “unsuitable for all advertisers,” effectively denying Paul and his online news program potential revenue from views.

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Dr. Paul, a 12-term ex-congressman and three-time presidential candidate, is known for views that often contradict those of Washington’s political establishment, especially on issues of war and peace. He currently helms the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, headquartered near Houston, Texas. “We have no violence, no foul language, no political extremism, no hate or intolerance,” Daniel McAdams, co-producer of the Ron Paul Liberty Report, told RT America. “Our program is simply a news analysis discussion from a libertarian and antiwar perspective.” McAdams, who also is executive director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, added that the YouTube demonetization “creates enormous financial burdens for the program.”

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YouTube has done the same to a number of political commentators. Most recently, those affected by the advert ban include left-wing online blogger Tim Black and right-wing commentator Paul Joseph Watson. Their videos have registered millions of views on the website.

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Previously, YouTube demonetized popular videos by Diamond and Silk, two black women who strongly support Trump, as well as the work of left-wing humorist Jimmy Dore.

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“Demonetization is a deliberate effort to stamp out independent political commentary – from the left or the right,” Black told the Boston Globe’s Hiawatha Bray. “It’s not about specific videos... It’s about pushing out diversity of thought and uplifting major news networks such as CNN, Fox News and MSNBC.”

  RT

This is not right. YouTube cannot be allowed to decide who or what views are acceptable for financing. YouTube, while being privately owned, is essentially a public service provider, and should be subject to regulations just like telephone companies, TV and radio.

Now You've Really Gone Too Far

The Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, Member of Knesset Tzipi Hotovely, held meetings this week with representatives of YouTube and Google, to find ways of cooperating to censor Palestinian videos from occupied Palestine, videos she dubbed as “inciting violence and terrorism.”

Israeli daily Maariv said Hotovely will be working with Google and YouTube officials in a joint mechanism that will be in charge of “monitoring and preventing” any publication of materials deemed by Tel Aviv to be “inflammatory.”

  Saed Bannoura

And a big F U to Google and YouTube.  Every time I turn around I learn another objectionable thing about Google.  I'm going to have to bite the bullet and at least extricate myself from GMail.  And stop using Google search engines.  Unfortunately, the app store on my Android phone is a Google product.  And Blogger is a Google product!  Google is everywhere.  UPDATE:  Okay, I've realized my attempts to extricate myself from Google are, in practice, limited to email and search engine.  I have way too many things that rely on Google...just as they planned, right?  I'll have to look for a way to protest what they're doing here; even if it's just an email to the company that will get tossed.

Hotovely announced in a Hebrew-only press release that she met with YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and Google’s Director of Public Policy, Jennifer Oztzistzki, at Google’s Silicon Valley Offices.

Hebrew-only press release.

All foreign journalists who report in the Occupied Territories are required to register with the Israeli military, and any footage that they film is required to go through the Israeli Military Censor’s office before it can be released.

Freedom of the press in Israel.

It's well beyond time for the US to withdraw all military and financial support from that government.

Since that will not happen...

Individual consumers can show their opposition to Israel’s violations by participating in a consumer boycott of Israeli companies, goods and services or of international companies involved in Israeli policies violating Palestinian human rights and international law. A consumer boycott works in two ways: firstly by generating public awareness about Israeli apartheid and occupation as well as international support for it and secondly by applying economic pressure for change.

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Trying to boycott the products of every single company that participates in Israeli apartheid is a daunting task that has a slim change of having a concrete impact.

It makes more sense to focus on optimal targets that are being targeted as part of national or international campaigns. Consumer boycotts are most effective when part of a broader campaign against a particular product or aiming to pressure a retailer to stop selling a particular Israeli product.

Get in contact with a BDS organisation in your area to find out what companies and products are being targeted and how to support local campaigns.

  BDS Movement

Or check the BDS Movement website for a partial listing.  (Three companies you know well and probably purchase from:  Ben & Jerry's; Ahava cosmetics; Hewlitt Packard.)