Sure, but returning to the original point - by that token, why should YouTube have any obligation or even judicial ability to retain videos like this on "the ba

Sure, but returning to the original point - by that token, why should YouTube have any obligation or even judicial ability to retain videos like this on "the back end?" It is indeed YouTube's right to vaporize any bits at any time. But when they are the leading video platform on the entire web by a huge margin they need to at least adequately present the reality of their content guidelines to users in countries like Syria who are probably not focused on researching alternative video hosts while trying to document chemical weapons attacks.