YouTube’s Selective Ban On ‘Stolen Election’ Videos
https://issuesinsights.com/2022/06/09/youtubes-selective-ban-on-stolen-election-videos/
The New York Post reports that YouTube deleted a video it posted about the Jan. 6, 2021, incursion into the Capitol building.
“In the video, Aaron Mostofsky, son of a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge, explains why he was compelled to come to the Capitol, namely ‘to express … [his] opinion as a free American … that this election was stolen’,” the Post says.
YouTube’s censors says they deleted the video because “it’s our job to make sure that YouTube is a safe place for all,” and that “content that advances false claims that widespread fraud … changed the outcome of the U.S. 2020 presidential election is not allowed.”
Early in May, YouTube deleted a video of Donald Trump’s speech to the Heritage Foundation because Trump said the 2020 election was rigged. The censors told Heritage that “violated our policies pertaining to elections misinformation.”
The Post argues that YouTube owner Google is effectively carrying out the Biden administration’s censorship campaign.
“The administration’s domestic-terror strategy had called for ‘enhancing faith in government’ by countering ‘dangerous conspiracy theories that can provide a gateway to terrorist violence,’ and vowed to ‘collaborate on addressing terrorist content … with technology companies.’”
The Post is right, and here’s how we know. YouTube has no problem posting videos that claim the 2016 election was stolen.
We did a YouTube search for “2016 election stolen.” The first result is a video, still available on YouTube, of Hillary Clinton saying the election had been stolen from her.
There’s another video of Clinton calling Trump an “illegitimate president” and still another featuring Clinton supporters calling for the 2016 election to be overturned, and in another she says “There Are Lots of Questions About Its Legitimacy,” referring to the 2016 election.
You can also find a clip, still on YouTube, of Jimmy Carter from 2019 saying that a “full investigation” would show that Trump lost in 2016.
“He lost the election,” Carter said, “and he was put into office because the Russians interfered.”
There’s a video on YouTube taken from MSNBC, which features multiple examples of Democrats calling past elections stolen.
So why are any of these videos still up on YouTube if any mention of election fraud in 2020 gets deleted?
Why does YouTube let Hillary’s flagrant lies about a “stolen election” remain on its service?
Isn’t it just as “dangerous”? Doesn’t it make you feel that YouTube is not “a safe place for all”?
Apparently, talk of election fraud is only “dangerous” when a Republican says it. If you’re a Democrat, you are free to say whatever you want.
YouTube should at least be honest about this distinction in its terms of service.
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