4 ms·

> Texas and 17 other states...that's not ok to talk about on YouTube? Firstly, this is a false equivalence. The kind of videos I am talking about are not ones

> Texas and 17 other states...that's not ok to talk about on YouTube? Firstly, this is a false equivalence. The kind of videos I am talking about are not ones discussing some frivolous lawsuit, they are the ones by wild-eyed zealots ranting about the Constitution that end up hatching plots to kidnap the Governor of their State [1]. The sort of videos that lead to people shooting up a pizza parlor because they believe it's the center of a Satanic organization [2]. But leaving that aside for a moment, restricting what's okay to talk about on YouTube is, by definition, YouTube's problem. They can restrict videos uploaded on the platform to be exclusively people wearing pink furry suits if they want. Senators can ask YouTube to try and stop running videos peddling conspiracy theories on their platform, because they believe YouTube (despite the large number of complaints about them) is generally speaking, a responsible and fairminded platform; and they expect that YouTube is broadly trying to do the right thing – not be political, but also crack down on unreasonable crackpot theories being peddled on its platform. Asking this of a less fair-minded source (say the vidoes on a Stormfront website) would be pointless, which is why the Senators don't do so. You will notice that the Senators aren't asking the creators of Gab to crack down on crackpot theories on their platform either. ----------------------------- [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-michigan-whitmer/militia-members-others-charged-in-plot-to-kidnap-michigan-governor-she-says-trump-complicit-idUSKBN26T2ZF https://www.reuters.com/article/us-michigan-whitmer/militia-... [2] https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/22/533941689/pizzagate-gunman-sentenced-to-4-years-in-prison https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/22/533941689...

oceanplexian 6y ago
I don’t really understand the argument that taking away free speech will somehow prevent acts of violence. Violence is illegal regardless of if you saw it in a YouTube video or not. As a matter of great irony to folks in the tech industry, this same argument was being used in the 1990s to ban violent video games. Of course it failed, because it was a terrible idea and was based on debunked science.
- quadrifoliate 6y ago
  > I don’t really understand the argument that taking away free speech will somehow prevent acts of violence. No one is taking away free speech in this case, that's where I think people are talking past each other. Isn't not allowing videos on your platform also a form of freedom of speech? The senators are simply urging YouTube to exercise their freedom of speech to run fact-checked, non-crackpot videos on their platform. Why do you want to force YouTube to carry videos of bizarre conspiracy theorists on their (private) platform? If the Senators ordered YouTube (or indeed, Fox News) to suppress specific videos, that would indeed be taking away free speech.
- tigershark 6y ago
  So, tell me, you would be perfectly fine with someone putting videos on YouTube asserting that you are a pedophile and adding also your home address just for completeness’ sake? It’s the same freedom of speech that caused a commando of terrorists to plot to kidnap and execute Michigan Governor.
hammock 6y ago
>Senators can ask YouTube to try and stop running videos peddling conspiracy theories on their platform, because they believe YouTube (despite the large number of complaints about them) is generally speaking, a responsible and fairminded platform; and they expect that YouTube is broadly trying to do the right thing – not be political, but also crack down on unreasonable crackpot theories being peddled on its platform. >Asking this of a less fair-minded source (say the vidoes on a Stormfront website) would be pointless, which is why the Senators don't do so. You will notice that the Senators aren't asking the creators of Gab to crack down on crackpot theories on their platform either. That's an interesting theory. Someone else might argue they are targeting YouTube and Facebook because there are more swing voters on these platforms and because these platforms are far more viral than Gab or Storefront.

oceanplexian 6y ago

I don’t really understand the argument that taking away free speech will somehow prevent acts of violence. Violence is illegal regardless of if you saw it in a YouTube video or not. As a matter of great irony to folks in the tech industry, this same argument was being used in the 1990s to ban violent video games. Of course it failed, because it was a terrible idea and was based on debunked science.

quadrifoliate 6y ago
> I don’t really understand the argument that taking away free speech will somehow prevent acts of violence. No one is taking away free speech in this case, that's where I think people are talking past each other. Isn't not allowing videos on your platform also a form of freedom of speech? The senators are simply urging YouTube to exercise their freedom of speech to run fact-checked, non-crackpot videos on their platform. Why do you want to force YouTube to carry videos of bizarre conspiracy theorists on their (private) platform? If the Senators ordered YouTube (or indeed, Fox News) to suppress specific videos, that would indeed be taking away free speech.
tigershark 6y ago
So, tell me, you would be perfectly fine with someone putting videos on YouTube asserting that you are a pedophile and adding also your home address just for completeness’ sake? It’s the same freedom of speech that caused a commando of terrorists to plot to kidnap and execute Michigan Governor.

hammock 6y ago

>Senators can ask YouTube to try and stop running videos peddling conspiracy theories on their platform, because they believe YouTube (despite the large number of complaints about them) is generally speaking, a responsible and fairminded platform; and they expect that YouTube is broadly trying to do the right thing – not be political, but also crack down on unreasonable crackpot theories being peddled on its platform. >Asking this of a less fair-minded source (say the vidoes on a Stormfront website) would be pointless, which is why the Senators don't do so. You will notice that the Senators aren't asking the creators of Gab to crack down on crackpot theories on their platform either. That's an interesting theory. Someone else might argue they are targeting YouTube and Facebook because there are more swing voters on these platforms and because these platforms are far more viral than Gab or Storefront.