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YouTube is like HR - they are there to protect the company and the company's revenue streams, not you or "the community".

This is why I think the term "community guidelines" for "censorship policy" is such abusive gaslighting. It's unilateral censorship, not community, and they are rules, not guidelines.

It's the same deceptive drive that renamed "searching your bag" to "security screening" at airports.



I mostly agree but my argument against “rules” is that these things never seem to be unilaterally enforced. So it really is more like a guideline because enforcement is unpredictable in several aspects.


On purpose. Maximizes their control to censor what they don't like to craft a wider narrative.


I find the idea that Youtube has a crafted narrative to be hilariously ridiculous.

Everyone has a completely different view of what the site is depending on what your interests are.


While there’s no reason to believe some broad conspiracy exists, it’d be hilariously ridiculous to assume that the folks at YouTube are unaware of the power they have to influence the zeitgeist. If some number of them act to advance their individual worldview through their enforcement of policy (is there any doubt that this happens?), then it is perfectly reasonable to say that YouTube, as a result of the conscious or unconscious biases of its decision makers, advances a worldview (though perhaps not a specific narrative).


Good Point. There is ofc tons of criminal youtubers making money.

YouTube don't care as long as it's not publicly known. Hence the community part I suppose?

It's no moral high ground but it's not illogical from that perspective.


I agree in general, but in this case the company has nothing to protect from. The matter doesn't relate to them in any way.


Community is an abused term nowadays


Very much so. It is used to make one's own arguments stronger. "Thank you for listening to the community" actually means "Thank you for listening to me".


Well the “community” doesn’t include anyone outside of Google. So, it’s not really a “community” by definition.


It’s 100% about protecting the brand.

Twitter has lost something like 60% of its advertisers because it turns out Proctor and Gamble doesn’t want an ad for Dawn dish detergent next to someone called BasedFuhrer1488 posting about how the Holocaust didn’t happen.

If it wasn’t for that all these platforms would let anything legal go as long as it drove engagement.


In this case it looks like theyre essentially just keeping his money because they decided to.




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