YouTube bans six major white supremacist channels

YouTube has banned several high profile white supremacist channels as online platforms face intense scrutiny on how they deal with racism and hate speech.

Channels belonging to Canadian white nationalist activist Stefan Molyneux, US white supremacist Richard Spencer and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke were among the six taken down.

Google-owned YouTube said the channels were banned for repeatedly claiming that members of protected groups are inferior to others, among other violations.

The video sharing platform began cracking down on supremacist channels in June last year, explicitly prohibiting content that alleges “a group is superior in order to justify discrimination, segregation or exclusion”.

“We have strict policies prohibiting hate speech on YouTube, and terminate any channel that repeatedly or egregiously violates those policies,” a YouTube spokesperson said.

Social media apps — Several big household brands have started suspending adverts on social media over failures to tackle hate speech on their platforms (Yui Mok/PA)

“After updating our guidelines to better address supremacist content, we saw a 5x spike in video removals and have terminated over 25,000 channels for violating our hate speech policies.”

Action comes as big firms back away from social network advertising, with the likes of Ford and Starbucks temporarily pausing ads.

The exodus follows the launch of the #StopHateForProfit campaign, which targets Facebook specifically for allowing “incitement to violence against protesters fighting for racial justice in America”.

Elsewhere, Reddit banned a forum that supported Donald Trump, in an effort to tackle hate speech.

According to the company, the forum, known as The_Donald, was banned because it encouraged violence, broke other Reddit rules, and defiantly “antagonised” Reddit and other forums.

Amazon-owned live streaming site Twitch has also temporarily banned Trump’s account for violating its hateful conduct rules.

Tags: social media

Comments 3

frank_freeman says:

6 years ago

The real Target will be left wing sites. These right wing nutters are the low hanging fruit that makes censorship acceptable. After Alex Jones was censored by U-tube Apple and later facebook, amid a great wave of publicity, many left wing news sites were also quietly censored. While I would not “defend unto the death” their right to peddle bullshit, I would always caution against censorship. Censor not lest ye be censored.

- Microbe says:
  
  6 years ago
  
  Absolutely. No censorship <💋
  
Microbe says:

6 years ago

I, for one, thinking about the Left, even occasionally one’s far Left, leanings, on that horseshoe graph which staunch supporter of Jo Swinson’s LibDems the vociferously irritating LBC broadcaster and former imprisoned extremist in youth though now reformed centrist activist Moslem Magid Newaz is completely disparaging of the far Left as well (as he is of the inoffensive Left) seeing them to be synonymous with the far right as pictorially symbolised on that horseshoe graph curve that brings far Left and far Right on ends of horseshoe closer together than either are arguably to Left, Right or Centre of the political horseshoe. Magid Newaz has interviewed one sometimes rated alt-righter (not one of the ones who’s has been zapped off YouTube) the wonderful Canadian Dr. Jordan. B. Peterson. Mr. Newaz must rate the doctor since he has an excellent podcast of shared discourse worth a perusal, as are any of Dr. Jordan Perterson’s lectures or interviews.

The reputed alt-Right have among their labelled as ‘extremists’ some softer, more engaging philosophers, polemists, writers, discoursers of superlative pattering artistry. And, of course for their undoubted intelligence persuasive views need always to be received with wary caution – yet, without dismissing ignorantly out of hand because certain views ‘catch one by surprise’ for blatancy of lies told or truths established.

Among so-called alt-Rightists now among the zapped off YouTube, who would, I’m inclined to think, repudiate his ‘political positioning on a horseshoe’ is philosopher, writer, and discourser, polemic historian Stefan Molyneux. As a Lefty of which of a kind he likely disdains me to a great degree I have been entertained and educated by Stefan Molyneux’s blogging forensics about the why’s and wherefores’ for instance of ‘school shooters’ in the USA. One discourse on the horribly sad case of the young tragic narcissist ‘Elliot Rodger’ (born in the UK) could easily be required academic reading from that one blog for those learning in ‘police academies’ or of the legal profession endeavouring in-depth knowledge of a case.

Horseshoe Graph:
https://www.google.com/search?q=horseshoe+graph&rlz=1C5CHFA_en&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=oMcVlabPqju4pM%252Cub5N-aetTYofYM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kT-QqSecXXA7rgsrpLSfDtqsky1hQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjWs8-ZvazqAhUVsXEKHYZGBbEQ9QEwAHoECAcQBA
Magid Newaz:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maajid_Nawaz