Today’s edition of @thetimes contains a report about the huge amount of antisemitic content on the alternative video sharing site, BitChute, following original research by CST.
thetimes.co.uk/article/hatefu…
thetimes.co.uk/article/hatefu…
Through some simple searches for neutral, Holocaust-related terms, we found easily accessible and large quantities of video content that either denies, distorts, inverts, or glorifies the Holocaust.
CST has repeatedly raised our concerns about BitChute, which effectively operates as a YouTube equivalent for neo-Nazis, conspiracy cranks, would-be terrorists & other extremists, a problem we first highlighted in our report published last year, Hate Fuel.
cst.org.uk/news/blog/2020…
cst.org.uk/news/blog/2020…
Notably, since 1 November 2020 BitChute has come under regulation by Ofcom, due to new statutory regulations that apply to UK-based VSPs (video sharing platforms), of which BitChute is one.
Crucially, under the new regulations VSPs must “take appropriate measures to protect consumers who engage with these services from the risk of viewing harmful content.” Ofcom’s full guidance on this can be read here - ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/…
Ofcom is due to be the UK’s official internet regulator under forthcoming legislation on online harms, and we will be reporting our findings to Ofcom as we believe this is an important test case for how the regulator will approach extremist, hateful & antisemitic content online.
In the run up to Holocaust Memorial Day 2021, CST conducted searches on BitChute for 5 neutral terms related to the Holocaust: “Holocaust”, “Auschwitz”, “Hitler”, “Gas Chambers” and “Anne Frank”.
We collected the first 20 search results for each of these search terms, amounting to 100 videos in total, and almost all the videos we found contained vile antisemitism, either denying, glorifying or distorting the Holocaust.
Out of the 100 videos there were 97 different videos (3 videos turned up in more than one search) of which 94 contained clear antisemitic discourse and content. These 94 videos had a combined viewing figure of 1,513,905.
Examples of titles of some of the videos found by CST include: “The Jewish Gas Chamber Hoax”, “Anne Frank (That Hiding B***h)”, “Adolf Hitler vs. The Jew World Order”. 
Holocaust Denial content is only one small part of the problem on BitChute, which still hosts large quantities of other antisemitic, racist and conspiracy-fuelled material despite this being repeatedly brought to BitChute’s attention.
CST also conducted searches for material that had been uploaded to BitChute in the two months prior to the storming of the US Capitol, that featured antisemitism, US Election conspiracy theories, COVID-19/vaccine conspiracy theories and videos advertising the protest on 6 Jan.
Antisemitism: “JEWISH INFLUENCE ON THE ENGLISH CROWN”, “THE JEWISH SUBTEXT TO COVID AND U.S. ELECTION FRAUD”, “JEWISH RITUAL MURDER”, “DODGY JEWISH PFIZER-THE MASKS OF ZION 190”.
US Election Conspiracy Theories: “THE PLOT TO STEAL AMERICA”, “VOTER FRAUD 2020 TEARING UP TRUMP BALLOT BLACK MAN”, “QANON, DEEP STATE, COVID WAR”.
COVID-19/Vaccine conspiracy theories: “EX PFIZER VP – STERILIZATION IN COVID VACCINE”, “CONFIRMED! ASTRAZENECA ABORTED MALE FETUS IN COVID-19 VACCINE”, “U.K. APPROVES… OXFORD/GATES/ASTRAZENECA CHIMPANZEE COVID-19 VACCINE”.
BitChute say they are a free speech platform promoting a plurality of ideas, but when you spend any amount of time on the platform, you realise it is anything but that. BitChute is an echo chamber in which conspiracy theories, antisemitism, racism & extremism reverberate loudly.
As such, BitChute, a British company registered at Companies House and now regulated by Ofcom, does immeasurable damage to democracy, public health and societal cohesion. We will be raising our findings with Ofcom and parliamentarians.
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