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posted by Fnord666 on Friday August 14 2020, @04:28PM   Printer-friendly
from the who-picks-what-gets-banned? dept.

YouTube bans videos containing hacked information that could interfere with the election:

As Democrats and Republicans prepare to hold their national conventions starting next week, YouTube on Thursday announced updates to its policies on deceptive videos and other content designed to interfere with the election.

The world's largest video platform, with more than 2 billion users a month, will ban videos containing information that was obtained through hacking and could meddle with elections or censuses. That would include material like hacked campaign emails with details about a candidate. The update follows the announcement of a similar rule that Google, which owns YouTube, unveiled earlier this month banning ads that contain hacked information. Google will start enforcing that policy Sept. 1.

YouTube also said it will take down videos that encourage people to interfere with voting and other democratic processes. For example, videos telling people to create long lines at polling places in order to stifle the vote won't be allowed.

[...] YouTube has also tried to secure its platform from foreign actors. Last week, the company said it banned almost 2,600 channels linked to China as part of investigations into "coordinated influence operations" on the site. YouTube also took down dozens of channels linked to Russia and Iran that had apparent ties to influence campaigns.


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  • (Score: 2) by Tork on Saturday August 15 2020, @08:09PM (3 children)

    by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Saturday August 15 2020, @08:09PM (#1037221)

    I think it's dangerous territory to pretend like something new is going on when private businesses have been catering to the wishes of their customers for centuries. I was going to joke that soon you lot will suddenly scream about censorship when your neighbors put out campaign signs in their lawns opposing your political views, but what would have been a light-hearted busting or your balls has in recent months become more of a prediction of the next level of stupidity we can expect in the near-future.

    --
    🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Sunday August 16 2020, @05:32PM (2 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Sunday August 16 2020, @05:32PM (#1037535) Journal

    I think it's dangerous territory to pretend like something new is going on when private businesses have been catering to the wishes of their customers for centuries.

    Alright, then. So you'd be OK with AT&T, Verizon, or some other private business running your phone service to cut you off because they don't like your political leanings? It's the same thing as what Google/YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other Big Tech companies are doing. Are you OK with Amazon refusing to deliver anything to you because they don't like your political leanings? Why not, because by your logic they're a "private business?" Oh, wait, you need them? Well, too bad, according to Tork's logic.

    Do I really need to spell out, letter by letter, why this sort of thing is dangerous for a country that wants to be a pluralistic democracy? When we play at this sort of thing, we're not a country anymore but a civil war. If that's what you guys all want, if that's what you're hungering for, then you'll get it.

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    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 2) by Tork on Sunday August 16 2020, @05:46PM

      by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Sunday August 16 2020, @05:46PM (#1037544)
      All of the services you mention can cut me off right now anyway for practically any reason. Someone could accuse me of nose-picking and I'd have no legal recourse if they shut me down over it, true or not. If they want to cut off half their revenue because of who they think their customers will vote for then what else would you want the government to do?
      --
      🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 16 2020, @11:39PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 16 2020, @11:39PM (#1037652)

      So you'd be OK with AT&T, Verizon, or some other private business running your phone service to cut you off because they don't like your political leanings?

      We had a regime like that, back in the 1950s when "good, respectable" white people would "call out" and "deplatform" businesses that would dare to serve black customers.