Today's headlines involve a right wing ranter with his own YOUTUBE channel, who decided it was ok to call someone a "lispy queer," etc.
While Twitter and Facebook often suspend users who are hateful and abusive, YOUTUBE (owned by GOOGLE) can play the "freedom of speech" game.
What gets a user suspended? Who knows.
YOUTUBE's "guidelines" are utterly confusing. There's no phone support or email support. It's impossible to predict if somebody's channel will get taken down or demonetized. Nobody knows who is getting paid to rant or whore on YouTube and who isn't.
Supposedly "monetization" only goes to uploaders who won't embarrass YouTube with content a sponsor might get complaints about. Uploaders who probably aren't monetized including girls who advertise that they have used underwear for sale.
EBAY doesn't allow this, but YOUTUBE does.
YOUTUBE probably doesn't monetize these women (ie, give them money for the number of hits they get) because General Mills or Toyota or whoever advertises on YOUTUBE wouldn't want to risk a boycott on their products. BUT...these uploaders make money by using YOUTUBE for free ads ala Craigslist, and others whine for Paypal donations.
YOUTUBE also allows people to post copyrighted music, TV shows and movies, and under the guise of "we're JUST a venue," don't demand that these uploaders show proof that they have permission. Uploaders routinely offer idiotic caveats like, "I don't own copyright, I just like this" or "This is fair use." It's up to copyright owners to send in DMCA complaints.
THIS controversy? In the REAL world, if somebody said "lispy queer" to Elton John on a talk show, that guest or host would never work again.
What is or isn't PC is very different in the real world and Google's wonderful world of YOUTUBE and blogs.
Once in a while, a high profile "YOUTUBE STAR" gets taken off for reckless posts or heartless comments, but most often, NO.
Google is notorious for doing as they please. Not even potential DEATH stops them.
Yes, potential DEATH of their employees. You might remember THIS woman?
Nasim managed to get past security at YOUTUBE and fire off a few shots at their employees. She didn't kill anyone. In a fit of despair, she turned the gun on herself.
She died. Ha ha ha.
Yes, HA HA HA, because there are a dozen or more lampoons of her, like this one, where clever YouTubers take her clips out of context and make fun of her. She was an eccentric who gave lectures and demonstrations of New Age lifestyle ideas. For no particular reason, she was demonetized. She needed the money, got no answer on why her channel was no longer getting ad money, and shot up the YOUTUBE office.
Obviously, her death did not change YOUTUBE opinion on being cruel, capricious and silent in dealing with uploaders or complaints.
The woman would be alive today, and a few YOUTUBE employees would not have bullet scars, if somebody had either explained to her why her channel was no longer eligible, or simply let her stay monetized and be just one of a million other YOUTUBE crackpots getting lunch money for their work.
There's a lot of confusion over what IS or IS NOT "Freedom of Speech." Those who insist everything is "Freedom of Speech" are told, "what about shouting FIRE in a crowded theater?"
There are gray areas, but GOOGLE is the BILLION DOLLAR company that is making too much GREEN to care.
Sorry, lispy queer. If Stephen Colbert said it about James Corden, he'd be fired. But if you say it on GOOGLE, it's ok.
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