It took a while coming, but social media platforms have at last begun to excise the hate merchants. Before his recent incarceration, Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, had been banned from Twitter, and then Facebook. Others have followed. Now has come a new wave of expulsions from YouTube.
The banning was picked up by Brittany Sellner, now a migrant living in Austria, who observed the other day “James Allsup, who had around half a million subscribers, has been banned from YouTube. James’s ban comes on the heels of the Iconoclast and several other right-wing channels being banned. A purge is clearly in the works”.
A company that sets its own terms and conditions had judged that one or more accounts using its platform was in violation of those terms and conditions, and as a result had decided they were persona non grata. Stuff happens. Allsup had, it seems, entrusted his livelihood to being able to monetise YouTube content. More fool him.
But then came the ban Ms Sellner did not want to see: “Along with the Iconoclast, James Allsup and several other right-wingers, Martin Sellner has just had his YouTube channel of over 100K subscribers deleted by YouTube for no reason”. No reason, except that he’s a neo-Nazi, he peddles racist conspiracy theories such as the “Great replacement”, he’s a pal of Stephen Lennon, and he’s the head man for Generation Identity in Austria, which took a $1,500 donation from the Christchurch shooter.
I mean, it’s something and nothing, isn’t it? Well, perhaps more something than nothing. Meanwhile, the usual phalanx of nonentities was up in arms at the news that YouTube was enforcing its Ts and Cs. This included the deeply unsavoury David Vance, who blubbered “Shameful. YouTube are [sic] in [sic] war footing against conservative opinion”.
But no-one who mattered cared what Vance thought. Nor did many people care what Marcus Meechan, aka Count Dankula, convicted hate peddler and failed UKIP candidate, thought. But he had a go anyway: “There seems to be a mass wave of censorship from YouTube right now. Iconoclast, Sellner, WotW and Allsup have had their channels terminated with no warning or explanation from YouTube”.
Explanation? YouTube isn’t a public body. They don’t have to give explanations. Nor do they have to pay attention to Brittany Sellner whinging “YouTube spends the week banning massive right-wing channels, then has the gall to state its open to ‘content that is outside the mainstream, controversial, or even offensive.’ What a joke”. Whine, Madam?
You're getting banned in the morning ...
What may also be relevant is that Hope Not Hate has recently infiltrated Generation Identity, exposing the group’s connections in the armed forces, revealing their social media playbook, and their latest push - to claim, dishonestly, that a “white genocide” is under way, in Britain and across Europe. The HnH insider also revealed links to InfoWars, former BNP alumni, the For Britain movement, and pundits like Katie Hopkins.
... and so are your mates
The far right is being excised from platforms like YouTube partly because of information gleaned from infiltration, but mainly through its own combination of bigotry and stupidity.
Social media platforms continue to bin the bigots. Just rejoice at that news.
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As ever, freedom of speech does not mean right to be heard.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it's speech, not publishing.
Would that some courageous souls would penetrate and expose the gutless Uriah Heeps of corporate media.
ReplyDeleteEspecially during the next general election. Gawd knows the unprincipled cowardly right wing twats have got such exposure coming. They are the media equivalent of tory self-entitlement: Power seeking without responsibility.
Roll on Leveson 2.