NPI and Radix’s small YouTube channel has had multiple videos removed; for the time being, however, the channel itself has survived the #VoxAdpocalypse. We had already been demonetized in 2017 and suffered waves of videos being “limited” since then. So nothing came as a surprise.
One removed video was emblematic of the new policy. “Who Are We” was a project @MarkBrahmin and I worked on some four years ago. It was evocative and positive in outlook, including nothing approaching “hate speech.” It had generated hundreds of thousands of views. Gone.
Conservatives, of course, want to pretend that all this is some crazy overreaction by SJWs to Steven Crowder’s insults. That episode was, at most, a catalyst.
The #YouTubePurge is a systematic, long-planned targeting of dissident thought that’s racialist, nationalist, critical of Zionism and Jewish influence, etc. Conventional conservatives won’t suffer; indeed, they’ll benefit.
The thing that makes Silicon Valley’s policies towards us so frustrating and demoralizing—what makes them so effective in a horrible way—is their *ambiguity*.
It would be better if YouTube published a statement saying that anything remotely heretical is not allowed on the platform: only makeup tutorials, iPhone unboxings, trailer reactions, and Democratic and Republican talking points will do. At least then we’d know, and move on.
Instead, we’re left in limbo. YouTube has a virtual monopoly on video content, and it remains an attractive platform. We keep thinking that we can sneak by, adjust our language, or tweak our image, etc. Yet we’re also dissuaded from seriously investing in the platform.
Whatever the case, after today, I’ve lost all confidence in YouTube. I’ll post videos there, but I will never be YouTube first or YouTube only. I’m working on a secure place to stream and post content. This will mean a lot less views, but after today, we don’t have a choice.
