“Don’t be evil,” was Google’s catchphrase back when they were starting out. It seems that as time has passed, they lost the “don’t.” Their latest example is the disappearing of TalkRADIO’s You Tube channel.
Google-owned YouTube in the early hours of this morning removed the TalkRADIO channel from its platform. YouTube had been where TalkRADIO streamed its live video content and kept an archive of old shows. The channel had accumulated tens of millions of views and 250,000 subscribers. YouTube has simply said the account was “terminated for violating YouTube’s community guidelines.”
The thought-crime that TalkRADIO is guilty of, is lock-down scepticism. They have repeatedly interviewed sceptics such as Peter Hitchens and this goes against the consensus so is verboten.
YouTube’s Covid-19 guidelines instituted in May 2020 states that “YouTube doesn’t allow content that spreads medical misinformation that contradicts local health authorities’ or the World Health Organization’s (WHO) medical information about COVID-19.” This includes bans on:
- Content that discourages people from consulting a medical professional or seeking medical advice.
- Content that promotes diagnostic methods that contradict local health authorities or WHO.
- Content that disputes the efficacy of local health authorities’ or WHO’s guidance on physical distancing or self-isolation measures to reduce transmission of COVID-19.
If a channel violates policies such as this three times, it will be terminated. This appears to be what happened last night.
That is straight out of the CCP’s playbook. In liberal democracies people are allowed to air their contrary opinions whatever the consensus may be. After all, experts can be wrong, governments can be wrong and the consensus can be flawed – a brief look into history tells us that one lone voice saying “still it moves” for example, is right, despite the dogmatic diktats of the authorities.
To be clear, Guido is not disputing that YouTube are within their rights, it is their property. Just questioning the wisdom given the platform’s dominance of the video space in the public square.
There was a time when I would have said the same thing. I have had cause to change my mind. Given that dominance over the public square, that reasoning no longer exists. Google/YouTube has set itself up to decide what information we may see and hear and dissent will be denied us, therefore ensuring that we are unable to question, unable to make a reasoned decision. So, given their power in the public space, no, “their gaff, their rules” is no longer applicable.
Google and all its spawn is now objectively evil and should be treated accordingly.
Update: Well, that didn’t take long.
Google has made a U-turn and reinstated TalkRadio’s YouTube channel after it was shut down amid claims the broadcaster ‘violated’ the website’s ‘community guidelines’ by airing criticism of coronavirus lockdowns.
News UK, which owns the radio station, had been urgently seeking a full explanation from the tech giant about the ‘nature of the breach’ that led to the account being removed from its platform.
In what appeared to be an extraordinary clampdown, Google terminated the station’s YouTube channel at around 1am, reportedly for violating its ‘community guidelines’, according to Guido Fawkes.
But TalkRadio’s YouTube channel is now back online, following a freedom of speech backlash led by senior minister Michael Gove and actor Laurence Fox, with civil liberties groups comparing Google’s ‘chilling attack’ to Chinese-style censorship.
A YouTube spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘TalkRadio’s YouTube channel was briefly suspended, but upon further review, has now been reinstated.
‘We quickly remove flagged content that violate our Community Guidelines, including COVID-19 content that explicitly contradict expert consensus from local health authorities or the World Health Organization (WHO).
‘We make exceptions for material posted with an educational, documentary, scientific or artistic purpose, as was deemed in this case.’
Yeah, right. You got stung by the backlash.
It’s been like this for so long now that it isn’t funny. Literally one narrative on anything mainstream, with a smattering of dissent to appease.
As soon as the dissent gets some traction though (Hitchens’ vids get 6 figure viewing figures), it gets pulled. Can’t have too many contradicting the official story.
Guido Fawkes reporting this, eh? I haven’t bothered visiting the Guido site in months – just another ‘Conservative in name only’.
As far as TalkRadio on YouTube is concerned, I can’t say I’m surprised. YouTube have been removing any videos about the fraud in the US election, for example. So their removal of videos by lockdown or mask sceptics does not surprise me in the least.
Perhaps TalkRadio should move its videos to Brand New Tube. I believe lockdown sceptics are free to post videos there without censorship.
By the way, it’s unrelated to TalkRadio, but in an editorial in today’s Grauniad (one of the chief cheerleaders for lockdowns), they state that the vast majority of the public support national lockdowns. If that’s true then the vast majority of the public are morons who swallow all government or BBC propaganda.
Do the vast majority of the public also support millions of people losing their jobs and thousands of businesses (such as pubs, restaurants, theatres and cinemas) collapsing?
I really don’t know with this one. On the ground, most of the people I speak to are opposed, yet I also come across plenty who are in favour.
Yep, just spend 30 minutes on Twitter. Vast majority completely in lockstep with gubbmint.
Well yes but Twitter is largely populated by woke leftists completely unrepresentative of the public as a whole.
Quite, but I’m not convinced my view is even close to a majority. The vast majority as I see it are enjoying their extended holiday, quite a lot with significant paychecks from the magic money tree.
It’s also fair to say that even before this nonsense I didn’t get out much, very misanthropic I am so i may not have much of a grip on the zeitgeit.
Have kids though and they say their friends are almost completely in accord with the lockdown, despite it being their very expensive university education that is being sacrificed.
The split seems to be those on furlough, whether in the public or private sector, and those who are self-employed who are watching their business spiralling around the plughole.
Yes, and as more sane people abandon Twitter for alternative platforms, Twitter will become nothing more than a radical left, woke echo chamber.
I listen to LBC to some extent whilst working and most callers seem to favour lockdowns but this might just be a function of the presenters’ attitudes: eg Sheila Fogarty, who seems to keep confronting non-mask wearers, attracts callers who whinge about non-mask wearers, and the LBC lot seem to be more pro-narrative than TalkRadio.
As far as I can tell, the split seems to be along the lines of:
Those in favour
-those who can work from home
-those whose jobs are safe (eg. Public sector)
-those on furlough
Those against
– Anyone who has to go out to work for a living.
– people who don’t want to cede all our hard won rights over to the government and be told what to do
But don’t worry, Ol’ Uncle Rishi is doubtlessly going to spunk more taxpayers money at the problem…
… That our grandchildren will be paying off.
He’ll engage Murphynomics and print some…
Richard Murphy is so unbelievably stupid, I’m surprised he’s not a senior Government minister by now
He’s even too stupid for Sage, despite the high level of competition.
Women seem to be more scared and in favour of lockdown, masks etc.
I’ve noticed exactly this myself. In my neighbourhood, most of those standing on the doorstep clapping like trained seals were the females of the households. Go into a supermarket, among all the staff who choose to wear face nappies, the outstanding majority of them are female.
Women are pre-programmed to be more risk averse to protect children. State has taken away that responsibility and women replaced it with ‘protect something’. Give women more cats
George Orwell’s prediction has happened just 36 years later than he anticipated
It was never a prediction, it is an observation on the way absolute power is used in totalitarian regimes.
It appears that Google use algorithms to score posts on You Tube. If they count the word vaccine 30 times it most probably an anti vaxx rant so it gets squished. But Talk Radio hosts debates with lockdowners and non-lockdowners to give impartiality. Algorithms cannot cope. They are dumb. It’s back up now. I do hope Ofcom bollocked them as they found nothing wrong. You cannot rule platforms or police them just using bits of software. Unfortunately Google treats the WHO pronouncements as gospel. Because Google is run by ignoramuses who do not undertand medical science.
The origin of “Computer Says No”?
It’s much simpler:
– Leftie complains : ‘strike’ given
– x stikes : suspended
– y strikes : banned
I’ve been posting about Google’s censorship, repeated suspensions of talkRadio and tR’s silence on this for over a month and been ignored by everyone.
I’m glad Google banned them as it finally brought it into the open, although tR still silent on past month’s war on them by Google
As for Gov’t intervening to have tR back – BS
IMO Gov’t has been pushing the talkRadio censorship, suspensions and the (19 Hour) removal, then re-instatement to send a message to all media: be nice to us or else
BBC: 19 Hours is “Brief”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pX-TLoZx5s
The “Ban Video” – Leftie teacher zealot rubbished by JHB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik4XrmtTbyQ