Updated YouTube T&C

Submitted by Unifex on

The conspiracy and FUD laden posts about the latest update to the “Account Suspension & Termination” section at YouTube coming thick and fast at the moment.

I did find a more level headed look at the subject. While this post does speculate that the updated T&C may be used to "…remove channels that promote hate speech, conspiracy theories, or harmful messages whose content isn’t extreme enough to warrant an outright ban, as these are unlikely to be commercially viable" it does also point out that this isn't actually clear and given the purpose of the update was to "…make them easier to read…" YouTube should make the effort to clarify this.

This article also links to a reddit post speculates that this may extend to "…people using ad blocking software" as well. Again, an emphasis on the vague nature the updated T&C.

From looking at a few of the panicked posts so far they do appear to be written from the point of view of the author expecting to be banned. While they are crying "Free Speech" and "First Amendment" rights they seem to forget that YouTube is a business, not a government run entity. The First Amendment only applies to the Government not being allowed to curtail your speech. So, as a non-governmental business they have the right to pick and choose who they want on their platform.

If you have chosen YouTube as the sole place to host your speech and you are concerned that they may start shutting down hate speech (which they already reserve the right to do) or insane or dangerous conspiracy theories and you think you will be shut down perhaps you should take a long look in the mirror and just accept you promote hate speech and are, quite possibly, part of the problem we see in society today.