7 ms·

Typing 共匪 (communist bandit) in YouTube comments will automatically be deleted

78 points by sfj 6y ago

Proven 6y ago
If communists only shared and gave away their property, that would make sense. But they are in fact bandits because they unjustly take what belongs to others. The only complaint I can come up with for the term is it is repetitive. But it's none of my business how YouTube runs their site. I can only say I'll never do business with them and those ad blockers are never going away...
hawkice 6y ago
I think we all want this to be a technical glitch, but I think that's not the case. This policy was made to appease an authoritarian government, and extending beyond their borders by design.
- retox 6y ago
  It was happening maybe 6 months ago if you used the words 'israel' and 'nuclear' in the same comment.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- Barrin92 6y ago
  It seems pretty likely because it sounds like a phrase that bots or fake users would spam. Not to mention that there's actually a word filter feature for content creators so you'd need to figure out if this is youtube deleting the comments or the channel owner.
  - sfj 6y ago
    > you'd need to figure out if this is youtube deleting the comments or the channel owner. I tried this myself on a Joe Rogan podcast, who doesn't speak Chinese and is based in L.A. and my comment was removed with 20 seconds. I very much doubt that he was the cause of the censorship.
    - Barrin92 6y ago
      the "held comments" feature on youtube algorithmically hides comments it deems inappropriate if that feature is turned on and it's left to the review of the creator. I'm not sure if Joe Rogan has that turned on or not, but to accuse youtube of biased political censorship you'd have to actually show explicit bias towards the content. I feel unless shown otherwise (and I'm not really keen on spamming random hate speech into youtube comment sections), I'd assume that slurs like that may have been caught in some generic filter.
      - sfj 6y ago
        From: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9483359?hl=en https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9483359?hl=en YouTube can hold potentially inappropriate comments for review in the following languages: Arabic English French German Japanese Korean Portuguese Russian Spanish Turkish Vietnamese Thai Indonesian Chinese is not one of them.
retox 6y ago
There are people that say that it's not censorship if it's a private company doing the redaction, but if big tech does it on behalf of the government is it censorship or not?
- stx 6y ago
  It might not be censorship (in the classic government sense) but its still very sad to see US based companies and organizations bow down to China. Granted I am aware China is not the only communist country. Another example of companies bowing down to China: https://www.reuters.com/article/china-basketball-nba-espn/espn-criticised-over-china-nba-coverage-for-using-nine-dash-line-map-idUSL3N26U2HE https://www.reuters.com/article/china-basketball-nba-espn/es...
  - donpott 6y ago
    Plus a Github repository of companies that kowtow to China's interests from a previous discussion here on HN: https://github.com/caffeine-overload/bandinchina https://github.com/caffeine-overload/bandinchina
  - blaser-waffle 6y ago
    don't forget blizzard/activision
- Proven 6y ago
  It's not because they are doing it on their own property. If a government did it, that'd be censorship, in my opinion
- brutal_chaos_ 6y ago
  I'm no authority, but I'd say absolutely a yes.
- joemazerino 6y ago
  Whether through State or private entities, censorship is censorship. The State doesn't get a karma pass for using private companies platforms rather than their own.
mc32 6y ago
I hope this is just an automated mistake and they correct this and not filter against it. If they don’t I feel they went down that slippery slope of beyond PC correctness and into prescriptive discourse. Truly lamentable given the nature of the medium. How are people supposed to have a “conversation” at all if something as innocuous as this gets flagged....
- 101404 6y ago
  Simple, talk only about things the CCP approves. It's about time the West left China and focused on India. The Chinese society needs a generation or two to catch up politically, after three decades of insane economic and social changes.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- m0llusk 6y ago
  This is absolutely not innocuous. China has seen many regimes fail over time. When a regime becomes corrupt and unfit to rule they are labeled as "bad men and bandits". Saying "Communist Bandit" indirectly through cultural reference characterizes Communists as unfit to rule and set to fall from power. Of course conversation and real speech has great value, but we are talking about an authoritarian regime experiencing a bout of paranoia.
wcoenen 6y ago
Context: it's a slur that was used during the Chinese civil war by the Nationalists to refer to the Communists, still used by Taiwanese. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_bandit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_bandit IMHO it makes sense that youtube removes comments that are just a slur and nothing else. Those wouldn't be tolerated on hackernews either.
- ashtonkem 6y ago
  Based on the few times I made the mistake of reading the comments on YT, I do not believe that YT removes other slurs automatically.
- salmo 6y ago
  I’d be fine with it if they removed all slurs. Or at least a reasonable effort to remove generally acknowledged slurs for many cultures. I know the line can be fuzzy.
- zachguo 6y ago
  This is the correct explanation but got downvoted. Comments containing only one slur would be considered as spams.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- sfj 6y ago
  > IMHO it makes sense that youtube removes comments that are just a slur and nothing else. The comment only needs to contain it, not solely consist of the phrase. I tried, “welcome mr. joe rogan to the land of 共匪” on a Joe Rogan podcast, and it was deleted in within 20 seconds.
  - wcoenen 6y ago
    That's interesting. I was basing my comment of the demonstration in the tweet which used just the slur and nothing else, so I didn't know.
RedComet 6y ago
No surprise.
guevara 6y ago
I know it's kind of a meme and hyperbolic to talk about the "commies at Google" but these circumstances are quite interesting.
dogma1138 6y ago
Seems like this has been “fixed” now, I’ve tried it on Binging with Babish and the comments is still up after 5min.

78 points by sfj 6y ago

If communists only shared and gave away their property, that would make sense. But they are in fact bandits because they unjustly take what belongs to others. The only complaint I can come up with for the term is it is repetitive. But it's none of my business how YouTube runs their site. I can only say I'll never do business with them and those ad blockers are never going away...

hawkice 6y ago

I think we all want this to be a technical glitch, but I think that's not the case. This policy was made to appease an authoritarian government, and extending beyond their borders by design.

retox 6y ago
It was happening maybe 6 months ago if you used the words 'israel' and 'nuclear' in the same comment.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
Barrin92 6y ago
It seems pretty likely because it sounds like a phrase that bots or fake users would spam. Not to mention that there's actually a word filter feature for content creators so you'd need to figure out if this is youtube deleting the comments or the channel owner.
- sfj 6y ago
  > you'd need to figure out if this is youtube deleting the comments or the channel owner. I tried this myself on a Joe Rogan podcast, who doesn't speak Chinese and is based in L.A. and my comment was removed with 20 seconds. I very much doubt that he was the cause of the censorship.
  - Barrin92 6y ago
    the "held comments" feature on youtube algorithmically hides comments it deems inappropriate if that feature is turned on and it's left to the review of the creator. I'm not sure if Joe Rogan has that turned on or not, but to accuse youtube of biased political censorship you'd have to actually show explicit bias towards the content. I feel unless shown otherwise (and I'm not really keen on spamming random hate speech into youtube comment sections), I'd assume that slurs like that may have been caught in some generic filter.
    - sfj 6y ago
      From: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9483359?hl=en https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9483359?hl=en YouTube can hold potentially inappropriate comments for review in the following languages: Arabic English French German Japanese Korean Portuguese Russian Spanish Turkish Vietnamese Thai Indonesian Chinese is not one of them.

retox 6y ago

There are people that say that it's not censorship if it's a private company doing the redaction, but if big tech does it on behalf of the government is it censorship or not?

stx 6y ago
It might not be censorship (in the classic government sense) but its still very sad to see US based companies and organizations bow down to China. Granted I am aware China is not the only communist country. Another example of companies bowing down to China: https://www.reuters.com/article/china-basketball-nba-espn/espn-criticised-over-china-nba-coverage-for-using-nine-dash-line-map-idUSL3N26U2HE https://www.reuters.com/article/china-basketball-nba-espn/es...
- donpott 6y ago
  Plus a Github repository of companies that kowtow to China's interests from a previous discussion here on HN: https://github.com/caffeine-overload/bandinchina https://github.com/caffeine-overload/bandinchina
- blaser-waffle 6y ago
  don't forget blizzard/activision
Proven 6y ago
It's not because they are doing it on their own property. If a government did it, that'd be censorship, in my opinion
brutal_chaos_ 6y ago
I'm no authority, but I'd say absolutely a yes.
joemazerino 6y ago
Whether through State or private entities, censorship is censorship. The State doesn't get a karma pass for using private companies platforms rather than their own.

mc32 6y ago

I hope this is just an automated mistake and they correct this and not filter against it. If they don’t I feel they went down that slippery slope of beyond PC correctness and into prescriptive discourse. Truly lamentable given the nature of the medium. How are people supposed to have a “conversation” at all if something as innocuous as this gets flagged....

101404 6y ago
Simple, talk only about things the CCP approves. It's about time the West left China and focused on India. The Chinese society needs a generation or two to catch up politically, after three decades of insane economic and social changes.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
m0llusk 6y ago
This is absolutely not innocuous. China has seen many regimes fail over time. When a regime becomes corrupt and unfit to rule they are labeled as "bad men and bandits". Saying "Communist Bandit" indirectly through cultural reference characterizes Communists as unfit to rule and set to fall from power. Of course conversation and real speech has great value, but we are talking about an authoritarian regime experiencing a bout of paranoia.

wcoenen 6y ago

Context: it's a slur that was used during the Chinese civil war by the Nationalists to refer to the Communists, still used by Taiwanese. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_bandit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_bandit IMHO it makes sense that youtube removes comments that are just a slur and nothing else. Those wouldn't be tolerated on hackernews either.

ashtonkem 6y ago
Based on the few times I made the mistake of reading the comments on YT, I do not believe that YT removes other slurs automatically.
salmo 6y ago
I’d be fine with it if they removed all slurs. Or at least a reasonable effort to remove generally acknowledged slurs for many cultures. I know the line can be fuzzy.
zachguo 6y ago
This is the correct explanation but got downvoted. Comments containing only one slur would be considered as spams.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
sfj 6y ago
> IMHO it makes sense that youtube removes comments that are just a slur and nothing else. The comment only needs to contain it, not solely consist of the phrase. I tried, “welcome mr. joe rogan to the land of 共匪” on a Joe Rogan podcast, and it was deleted in within 20 seconds.
- wcoenen 6y ago
  That's interesting. I was basing my comment of the demonstration in the tweet which used just the slur and nothing else, so I didn't know.

RedComet 6y ago

No surprise.

guevara 6y ago

I know it's kind of a meme and hyperbolic to talk about the "commies at Google" but these circumstances are quite interesting.

dogma1138 6y ago

Seems like this has been “fixed” now, I’ve tried it on Binging with Babish and the comments is still up after 5min.