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This is a personal project of mine that was borne out of frustration and disgust at the behavior of YouTube over the past several years. The censorship on YouT

This is a personal project of mine that was borne out of frustration and disgust at the behavior of YouTube over the past several years. The censorship on YouTube (and many other websites) is hitting a level of absurdity that is hard to believe. I can't imagine the general public is actually interested in having YouTube gatekeep so much information and act as if they are the arbiters of truth. YouTube content creators are starting to hedge their bets by publishing in tandem to alternate platforms but they aren't always informing their audiences about it. There seems to be a good chunk of the population that is also tired of YouTube's behavior but isn't ready to totally boycott the service. I created TubeShift to do 3 specific things: 1) Help publishers drive traffic away from YouTube to their official alternate publishing locations such as Rumble or Dailymotion. 2) Help people who want to watch less YouTube find the official content of the publishers they pay attention to somewhere that is not YouTube. 3) Give users a chance to still see the video they want to see even if it was removed from YouTube, for instance if they followed a hyperlink right to a YouTube video watch page. You'll find some test links on the website to an EEVBlog and History Guy video both of which are hedging their bets. Here's a test URL for a video that's been removed. Louis Rossman, who I can't imagine is controversial for any reason except making established tech unhappy through right to repair reform, just recently published a video about someone who is starting fires in front of his repair shop in New York City. In less than 24 hours after publication the video was removed from YouTube for unknown reasons. Not a problem because TubeShift had already managed to get it into it's database. https://odysee.com/@rossmanngroup:a/someone-keeps-piling-garbage-outside-the:7 https://odysee.com/@rossmanngroup:a/someone-keeps-piling-gar... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB_IXenArUw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB_IXenArUw

TylerRiddle 5y ago
Some additional info: I've setup a social media account for TubeShift at Gab which you can find here https://gab.com/tubeshift https://gab.com/tubeshift I setup a Twitter account too though it's really only out of morbid curiosity. I ran into my first bit of censorship on my third post! I was unable to submit a link to a funny video where YouTube is acting like a thug demanding a content creator censor themselves. The Tweet was rejected as being "potentially harmful content" - I'm not exactly sure what it's harming except the reputation of companies that like to censor. https://twitter.com/TubeShiftPlugin/status/1379611097259405313 https://twitter.com/TubeShiftPlugin/status/13796110972594053... Here's the video on BitChute - be careful though Twitter thinks this is harmful. https://www.bitchute.com/video/25cQBXfjgpLo/ https://www.bitchute.com/video/25cQBXfjgpLo/
- gkoberger 5y ago
  "I've setup a social media account for TubeShift at Gab" ...oh
  - mplewis 5y ago
    Yep. If the "red, white and blue" TubeShift icon, the "Ditch Big Tech" tagline, and the link to the far-right video hosting platform BitChute weren't loud enough dog whistles, this one is.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - readflaggedcomm 5y ago
      Bitchute's admins may disagree: https://www.theburkean.ie/articles/2020/12/13/bitchute-removes-extremist-content-in-partnership-with-hope-not-hate https://www.theburkean.ie/articles/2020/12/13/bitchute-remov...
    - TylerRiddle 5y ago
      What exactly is being whistled? Can you please be specific?
- cpach 5y ago
  Isn’t Gab that site for far-right extremists? Why not Mastodon instead?
  - gkoberger 5y ago
    I think you have your answer. Watch the video they posted, too.
    - TylerRiddle 5y ago
      There's plenty of stuff on Barricade Garage's channel that you would consider far right. But perhaps you should consider that his message is actually that the establishment successfully keeps us from cooperating by perpetuating a left vs right narrative. The reason they do this is so we don't unite against them. I think he has a pretty good point. You could try listening to some of his "far right" views. They are in YouTube and BitChute: "CNN INTERVIEW GONE WRONG" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb0lh3_s4Dk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb0lh3_s4Dk and "HE GOT HIT WITH THAT BIG MAC" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PWiMiO5Buo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PWiMiO5Buo I've never seen a member of the "far right" throw gang signs before.
sneak 5y ago
This is great. Thanks for this!
- TylerRiddle 5y ago
  You are welcome! I had to do something and this is what I could think of. Now I get to go deal with the brigade crew that's downvoting me because only Nazis use Gab and BitChute is only for the far right. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
  - s9w 5y ago
    This is indeed great, but the t***-discords will soon kill this thread. This community is not interested in tech or truth.
  - sneak 5y ago
    HN pro tip: do not discuss voting, especially downvoting, for any reason. It's against the guidelines, but even if you don't do it just for that reason: it's super uninteresting, and shows a minor disrespect for the time/attention of others (expecting them to take time reading uninteresting complaining). (I'm breaking my own rule here but your username is green which means you're new here, so I wanted to help out as you seem to be keen to contribute useful things.)
    - TylerRiddle 5y ago
      Well thanks for the note and perhaps it is against the rules but the behavior looks like active censorship and not pointing out that brigading is happening is soft censorship to me. I find that interesting. You are right that I contribute useful information. My signal to noise ratio tends to extremely good unless I've made an active decision to go into outright troll mode. I'm highly knowledgeable and skilled and experienced. This place is too close to Reddit for me. I don't intend on sticking around with community behavior and rules like that. I've been reading HN for years and never made an account. I actively avoid places where people call me a Nazi actually.
gkoberger 5y ago
You've provided two examples of censorship. The first is a video that was removed from YouTube by the uploader, not by YouTube. The second is Twitter blocking a link to a YouTube video that's still up. I get you want to be a victim, but YouTube doesn't owe you or anyone else a platform. And even so, in no way is their "censorship" hitting a "level of absurdity that is hard to believe".
- TylerRiddle 5y ago
  > The first is a video that was removed from YouTube by the uploader, Only a part of this can be confirmed. Rossman hasn't made a statement yet about why that video was removed but for instance he still links to it from other places. If a video is flagged by YouTube for what ever reason one of the available options is for the publisher to voluntarily remove it to avoid something like a channel strike. Rossman is potentially a victim here but it doesn't mater because the nature of the removal is irrelevant for the system from a technical standpoint. > The second is Twitter blocking a link to a YouTube video that's still up. You didn't look in very much detail. The post I could not make had a link to the same video in BitChute. When it's on BitChute it's harmful but when it's on YouTube it's not. It's the same video content with a different URL! I suspect what happened is BitChute is blacklisted from Twitter completely but I haven't tested it yet. I suppose some how the exact same video is only harmful when it's on BitChute. That makes sense, right? This is the video by the way: https://www.bitchute.com/video/25cQBXfjgpLo/ https://www.bitchute.com/video/25cQBXfjgpLo/ > YouTube doesn't owe you or anyone else a platform. Are you sure that argument makes sense when you are discussing a thing that is intended to drive people away from YouTube? Does it sound like I think YouTube owes anyone anything? It sounds more like I'm saying 'Watch Less YouTube' which would, at least in my head, be the opposite of thinking YouTube owed anyone anything. > And even so, in no way is their "censorship" hitting a "level of absurdity that is hard to believe". Yeah, it is. https://odysee.com/@MLChristiansen:d/susan-wicky-wicky-brags-about-deleting:2 https://odysee.com/@MLChristiansen:d/susan-wicky-wicky-brags...

TylerRiddle 5y ago

Some additional info: I've setup a social media account for TubeShift at Gab which you can find here https://gab.com/tubeshift https://gab.com/tubeshift I setup a Twitter account too though it's really only out of morbid curiosity. I ran into my first bit of censorship on my third post! I was unable to submit a link to a funny video where YouTube is acting like a thug demanding a content creator censor themselves. The Tweet was rejected as being "potentially harmful content" - I'm not exactly sure what it's harming except the reputation of companies that like to censor. https://twitter.com/TubeShiftPlugin/status/1379611097259405313 https://twitter.com/TubeShiftPlugin/status/13796110972594053... Here's the video on BitChute - be careful though Twitter thinks this is harmful. https://www.bitchute.com/video/25cQBXfjgpLo/ https://www.bitchute.com/video/25cQBXfjgpLo/

gkoberger 5y ago
"I've setup a social media account for TubeShift at Gab" ...oh
- mplewis 5y ago
  Yep. If the "red, white and blue" TubeShift icon, the "Ditch Big Tech" tagline, and the link to the far-right video hosting platform BitChute weren't loud enough dog whistles, this one is.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - readflaggedcomm 5y ago
    Bitchute's admins may disagree: https://www.theburkean.ie/articles/2020/12/13/bitchute-removes-extremist-content-in-partnership-with-hope-not-hate https://www.theburkean.ie/articles/2020/12/13/bitchute-remov...
  - TylerRiddle 5y ago
    What exactly is being whistled? Can you please be specific?
cpach 5y ago
Isn’t Gab that site for far-right extremists? Why not Mastodon instead?
- gkoberger 5y ago
  I think you have your answer. Watch the video they posted, too.
  - TylerRiddle 5y ago
    There's plenty of stuff on Barricade Garage's channel that you would consider far right. But perhaps you should consider that his message is actually that the establishment successfully keeps us from cooperating by perpetuating a left vs right narrative. The reason they do this is so we don't unite against them. I think he has a pretty good point. You could try listening to some of his "far right" views. They are in YouTube and BitChute: "CNN INTERVIEW GONE WRONG" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb0lh3_s4Dk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb0lh3_s4Dk and "HE GOT HIT WITH THAT BIG MAC" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PWiMiO5Buo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PWiMiO5Buo I've never seen a member of the "far right" throw gang signs before.

sneak 5y ago

This is great. Thanks for this!

TylerRiddle 5y ago
You are welcome! I had to do something and this is what I could think of. Now I get to go deal with the brigade crew that's downvoting me because only Nazis use Gab and BitChute is only for the far right. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
- s9w 5y ago
  This is indeed great, but the t***-discords will soon kill this thread. This community is not interested in tech or truth.
- sneak 5y ago
  HN pro tip: do not discuss voting, especially downvoting, for any reason. It's against the guidelines, but even if you don't do it just for that reason: it's super uninteresting, and shows a minor disrespect for the time/attention of others (expecting them to take time reading uninteresting complaining). (I'm breaking my own rule here but your username is green which means you're new here, so I wanted to help out as you seem to be keen to contribute useful things.)
  - TylerRiddle 5y ago
    Well thanks for the note and perhaps it is against the rules but the behavior looks like active censorship and not pointing out that brigading is happening is soft censorship to me. I find that interesting. You are right that I contribute useful information. My signal to noise ratio tends to extremely good unless I've made an active decision to go into outright troll mode. I'm highly knowledgeable and skilled and experienced. This place is too close to Reddit for me. I don't intend on sticking around with community behavior and rules like that. I've been reading HN for years and never made an account. I actively avoid places where people call me a Nazi actually.

gkoberger 5y ago

You've provided two examples of censorship. The first is a video that was removed from YouTube by the uploader, not by YouTube. The second is Twitter blocking a link to a YouTube video that's still up. I get you want to be a victim, but YouTube doesn't owe you or anyone else a platform. And even so, in no way is their "censorship" hitting a "level of absurdity that is hard to believe".

TylerRiddle 5y ago
> The first is a video that was removed from YouTube by the uploader, Only a part of this can be confirmed. Rossman hasn't made a statement yet about why that video was removed but for instance he still links to it from other places. If a video is flagged by YouTube for what ever reason one of the available options is for the publisher to voluntarily remove it to avoid something like a channel strike. Rossman is potentially a victim here but it doesn't mater because the nature of the removal is irrelevant for the system from a technical standpoint. > The second is Twitter blocking a link to a YouTube video that's still up. You didn't look in very much detail. The post I could not make had a link to the same video in BitChute. When it's on BitChute it's harmful but when it's on YouTube it's not. It's the same video content with a different URL! I suspect what happened is BitChute is blacklisted from Twitter completely but I haven't tested it yet. I suppose some how the exact same video is only harmful when it's on BitChute. That makes sense, right? This is the video by the way: https://www.bitchute.com/video/25cQBXfjgpLo/ https://www.bitchute.com/video/25cQBXfjgpLo/ > YouTube doesn't owe you or anyone else a platform. Are you sure that argument makes sense when you are discussing a thing that is intended to drive people away from YouTube? Does it sound like I think YouTube owes anyone anything? It sounds more like I'm saying 'Watch Less YouTube' which would, at least in my head, be the opposite of thinking YouTube owed anyone anything. > And even so, in no way is their "censorship" hitting a "level of absurdity that is hard to believe". Yeah, it is. https://odysee.com/@MLChristiansen:d/susan-wicky-wicky-brags-about-deleting:2 https://odysee.com/@MLChristiansen:d/susan-wicky-wicky-brags...