YouTube deletes half of 'violent' music videos
YouTube says it has deleted more than half of the "violent" music videos that the country's most senior police officer asked it to take down. More than 30 clips have been removed so far.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has blamed some videos for fuelling a surge in murders and violent crime in London - and singled out drill music. She asked YouTube to delete content which glamorises violence.
Drill originated in Chicago. Its biggest breakout star is arguably Chief Keef, famous for his 2012 track I Don't Like.
[...] In the past two years police have asked YouTube to take down between 50 and 60 music videos, because they were deemed to incite violence. The video-sharing site has now removed more than 30 of them.
"The gangs try to outrival each other with the filming and content - what looks like a music video can actually contain explicit language with gangs threatening each other," the Metropolitan Police's Mike West said.
That's that shit I don't like.
Also at Rolling Stone and Pitchfork.
Related: Spotify Removes Two Artists From Playlists Due to "Hate Content and Hateful Conduct"
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Sunday June 03 2018, @08:09AM (9 children)
'Incitement to commit an offence' is still a crime in the UK, and the majority still think it should be. That was the legal justification for the removal requests. Of course, the press can spin it any way they want to - they have media to sell!
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 03 2018, @09:25AM (2 children)
So when are the UK police going to ban the Quran?
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Sunday June 03 2018, @11:11AM (1 child)
Probably about the same time that you stop being frightened by a religion. Oh, you mean those that claim to be Muslims but, in fact, do not follow the teachings of the Quran? Don't blame a religion for people who have a twisted idea of good and evil. The religion is just being exploited by people with marginally more intelligence than those being targetted.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 03 2018, @11:56AM
Right now then? My point was only that the law be applied equally.
Are you talking about this abhorrent, hateful nonsense? [skepticsannotatedbible.com] What's the legal distinction between incitement via rap music or incitement via "religious" text? There's only one rational conclusion to this thought experiment unless the frame is perverted from that of secular perspective.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 03 2018, @11:37AM (5 children)
What? Even if it was a response to an offence, how in the fuck would that make it "not censorship"? It would still be censorship.
Also, I don't know how they do it, but the UK manages to be worse than the US when it comes to freedom of speech.
What specific, credible threats were being made? What are the standards here?
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Sunday June 03 2018, @02:01PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_the_United_Kingdom [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Sunday June 03 2018, @02:21PM (3 children)
The Communications Act 2003 outlaws the act of sending "by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character.
In 2017, 19-year old Croxteth resident Chelsea Russell quoted a line from Snap Dogg's song "I'm Trippin'" on her Instagram page. The line, which read "Kill a snitch nigga, rob a rich nigga", was copied from a friend's page as part of a tribute to Frankie Murphy who was killed in a car accident at age 13.[169][170] Hate crime investigators were alerted to the presence of the slur and charged Russell with "sending a grossly offensive message by means of a public electronic communications network". Defence lawyer Carole Clarke stated that she received a request from one of the arresting officers that the word "nigga", the subject of the trial, not be used in court.[171] In April 2018, District Judge Jack McGarva found Russell guilty and delivered a sentence which included a £585 fine, a curfew and an ankle monitoring bracelet
.
Now, why did you think that UK citizens have the same right to Freedom of Speech than any other nation? If you are British and don't like it, write to your MP. If you are not British, then the UK can do whatever it wants without your approval. By all means comment here, but don't confuse your rights with those of someone in a different country.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 03 2018, @11:18PM (2 children)
Well, the UK is an authoritarian abomination of a country, so this comes as no surprise.
Sorry, but the mere fact that I was born on a different patch of dirt as some other people does not mean I won't feel empathy for them when their human rights (which may or may not be recognized by a specific government) are being violated. That's such a right-wing idea.
I have no issues when foreigners chastise the US government for committing war crimes, conducting mass surveillance on the populace, or doing any number of other heinous things. In fact, when they do, I agree with them because I am not a tribalist.
I don't, which is why I said the UK is worse than the US when it comes to freedom of speech.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Monday June 04 2018, @06:52AM (1 child)
Which is why I have tried to educate you to correct your erroneous belief that the UK has a law covering freedom of speech. It hasn't. I agree with your comments, I'm not arguing against them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 06 2018, @08:42AM
You're mistaken about my beliefs. Freedom of speech is a concept, not just "a law". On the principle of freedom of speech, the UK is worse than the US.