Thread by @HappyWarriorP

Here's my latest for the Happy Warrior:

The Dark Age of YouTube. Youtuber Act Man Has Channel Nuked for Embarrassing YouTube and Defending Creators
happywarrior.substack.com/p/actman?r=2jt… @TheActMan_YT #JusticeForActMan #youtube @TheQuartering @YellowFlashGuy @BleedingFool @BoundingComics #nerd

I swan dive #JusticeForActMan story,
covering from April til now,

Interviewed @TheActMan_YT & researched,
Going through as much material as I could
happywarrior.substack.com/p/actman?s=w @nickgillespie @CathyYoung63 @emzanotti @ZubyMusic @libbyemmons @LibertarianBlue https://t.co/agyUMo32Hm

YouTuber Act Man made a video about Quantum TV ne'er-do-well & copyright infringement troll that had among other things threatened his mom

& instead of acting,
YouTube nuked @TheActMan_YT channel instead

happywarrior.substack.com/p/actman?s=w
@Nerdrotics @neontaster @BlueBoxDave @stillgray

What YouTube did is indefensible & outrageous,

tells us the "policy" & "rules" of YouTube & other social media companies have are arbitrary nonsense

happywarrior.substack.com/p/actman?s=w
@chadfelixg @andysignore @Marcdachamp @TaylorLorenz @erikkain @wil_da_beast630 @TheCriticalDri2 @elonmusk

the video that caused the ruckus is the Dark Age of YouTube,

Covers the many sins & harassment by Quantum TV, including stalking, threats, massive copyright trolling & stealing of other people's content

& threatening @TheActMan_YT s Mom
#JusticeForActMan

This is a re-upload from a different YouTuber so I got no idea how long it will stay up,

I recommend U watch the Dark Age while U can

It's a great video,
w/ high production values & top quality work
#JusticeForActMan #YouTubeSidesWithHate #YouTube #actman @EthanVanSciver

Ask yourself:
If someone threatened Ur mom & livelihood,
stalked & harassed U

If U knew this person did this to folks w/ much less clout & protection would U stay silent & or tell those in charge?
happywarrior.substack.com/p/actman?s=w
@GeeksGamersCom @ThatUmbrella @thatstarwarsgrl @RekietaLaw

What if U contacted those in charge & instead of listening to concerns & doing something

They attack U instead?

well that's what happened to @TheActMan_YT when @YouTube chose to punish him instead of his abuser

https://twitter.com/TheActMan_YT/status/1534648758780035072?s=20&t=YcDKj-lIdFQcogny-AY9hA

@OrwellNGoode @SophiaNarwitz @AngryJoeShow

How we got here:
It all begins w/ the YouTuber Quantum TV,

An AV YouTuber w/ a penchant for threatening, doxing & stalking his critics

Responsible for killing many channels w/ copyright attacks & scare tactics
@OrdinaryGamers @ggreenwald @JonahDispatch

Among other things,

Quantum TV is prone to threats & attacking gay folk, he loves to sling the Pulse NightClub shooting as a talking point & slur,

Not a nice guy
@SirajAHashmi @EsotericCD @AdamLanceGarcia @AngryJoeShow @mattyglesias @wesyang @MrAndyNgo lucien0maverick.wordpress.com/2022/03/16/dis…

In April,

Quantum mass flagged the channel of a 16-year-old High School YouTuber Mischief

after Quantum disliked some of his videos,
Mischief then turned to the Act Man for help
@ighaworth @GundamIsHere @JackPosobiec @jessesingal @Grummz @Kneon

.@TheActMan_YT a popular Gaming YouTuber
w/ 1.5 million subscribers hes no small fish🐟

Known for his long-form videos documenting classic video games, hes known in the community as a good samaritan willing to help any creators seeking advice & assistance

At issue is the false copyright claims made by Quantum,

On YouTube copyright strikes are severe,

Just 1 & Ur views nosedive,
3 & Ur channel is taken down permanently,

YouTube rarely helps creators smaller than 100K & usually lets them hang in the wind
happywarrior.substack.com/p/actman?s=w

Act Man agreed to investigate & talk to YouTube on his behalf,

Over 3 weeks in April, his investigations brought to light some disturbing facts,

Including a wave of mass copyright claims against multiple YouTubers but not just
@jessesingal @OliverJia1014 @Black_D_Gamer1

Additionally, Quantum loves to get his victims in trouble w/ the law & socially isolated,

Claiming individuals had engaged in criminal behavior, as in the case of @THEREALRTU calling & telling people that he was a pedophile

@GundamIsHere @RekietaLaw

@THEREALRTU @GundamIsHere @RekietaLaw Quantum TV is not just a toxic presence on YouTube, but a threat to people's lives & livelihoods

Hed been doing this since at least 2018,
& YouTube never did anything about it

so @TheActMan_YT decided someone had to act

happywarrior.substack.com/p/actman?s=w
@elonmusk @megbasham @Nerdrotics

At first, Act Man criticized Quantum for his awful #ELDENRING review which had already gone semi-viral,

Actman wanted to get his attention but he also wanted to keep it professional & only reviewed the hot take
@MattWalshBlog @nichegamer @goldenwitchfire

Quantum TV did not take criticism well,

being reviewed as hed done to others so many times in the past

so thus he began to harras the Act Man
First in emails, & social media but then things got crazy

@SophNar0747 @OrwellNGoode @heckyessica @libsoftiktok

One evening Act Man's Mom received a threatening phone call from a man claiming that her son damaged his business,

he threatened litigation or legal action if her son would not remove his mean videos
happywarrior.substack.com/p/actman?s=w
#JusticeForActMan #YouTubeSidesWithHate @RLewisReports

the threats annoyed & scared his family

A dangerous move by Quantum against someone that had no idea any of this was going on

& made the Act Man take action
#actman #YouTube #quantumtv @Timcast @QuillRobinson @realchrisrufo @wil_da_beast630 @bdomenech #YouTubeSidesWithHate

Act Man did a series of videos he jokingly referred to as getting Quantum canceled off of YouTube

Thoroughly documenting copyright strikes
& harassment Quantum regularly engaged in
@stillgray @BillyM2k @senatorshoshana @AmazingNerdShow @LibertarianBlue

Unlike what some say,
this isn't just what Act Man did,

He worked hard behind the scenes talking to his Partner Program rep & sending reports & evidence to YouTube to evaluate Quantum TV

All of which were ignored
happywarrior.substack.com/p/actman?s=w @TheQuartering @Timcast @bungarsargon

a report was 35K words,

featuring pages of links, evidence, & records showcasing Quantum TV had engaged in quasi-criminal behavior & repeatedly broke YouTube's policies, rules & guidelines,

& based on the language of @YouTube 'es reply,
they did not care #JusticeForActMan

Act Man wasn't sure what to do,

He'd taken the correct approach & tried to work behind the scenes to let YouTube know there was a creator on their platform attacking, doxing & striking other creators, but no dice🎲

So he had only 1 play left to make
#justiceforactman #youtube

.@TheActMan_YT put all of his heart & soul into his Magnum Opus, The Dark Age of Youtube,

Trial-themed video laying down all the evidence he'd put together on Quantum
happywarrior.substack.com/p/actman?s=w @train_youtube @Asmongold @EveryAsmongold @LegacyKillaHD @pmarca @GameGrumps @Froskurinn

It's a brilliant video🎩

staged to look like the awesome Ace Attorney series of video games🏦

w/ the Act Man becoming the Act Attorney, Quantum TV as the defendant & @Asmongold as the Judge👩‍⚖️

#asmongold #legaltwitter @RekietaLaw #AceAttorney #videogames

Unfortunately,

For most, this video is unwatchable (i expect my link to be taken down any minute)

As YouTube deleted & removed almost every copy of it off YouTube & the web
#justiceforactman #YouTubeSidesWithHate @Grummz @LPNational @LPTexas @dr4liberty @robbysoave @emzanotti

The Act Man had finally gotten YouTube's attention,
but it wasn't Quantum TV that worried them

First the ActMan got the video taken down with a copyright strike warning, w/ the policy cited as "nudity or sexually suggestive material"

which isn't in the video,
though a cucumber briefly appeared on screen🥒

https://twitter.com/TheActMan_YT/status/1534311008918970369?s=20&t=YcDKj-lIdFQcogny-AY9hA

Multiple videos on Act Man's channel
mostly gaming videos were suddenly demonetized

Then others that covered Dark Age like @THEREALRTU started having their videos being taken down & demonetized as well

happywarrior.substack.com/p/actman?s=w
@TechRaptor @realchrisrufo @RebeccaRoseGold #youtube

When Act Man contacted these channels, he found all received the same notice from YouTube on the same day, within the same hour

1 by 1 anyone w/ anything to do w/ Dark Age or supported him got content demonetized & removed

https://twitter.com/TheActMan_YT/status/1534788417904467968?s=20&t=YcDKj-lIdFQcogny-AY9hA

@TheQuartering @conor64

some other small channels claimed to have had their accounts banned for posting the Dark Age video or creating videos covering the YouTube v. Act Man drama

https://twitter.com/realnevo/status/1534832176944058370?s=20&t=YcDKj-lIdFQcogny-AY9hA

Then YouTube brought down the hammer,

during @TheActMan_YT Tuesday Twitch Stream,
he received the email he dreaded getting,

YouTube was pulling the plug, his entire channel demonetized & out of the partner program

7 years of work, erased in a few days

https://twitter.com/TheActMan_YT/status/1534460124261064705?s=20&t=YcDKj-lIdFQcogny-AY9hA

Previously Act Man never had anything more than a copyright warning,

He may perform as a boisterous character in his videos, but in real life, he's tight-laced & plays by the rules

YouTube's erasure of their relationship came as a shock to him
happywarrior.substack.com/p/actman?s=w #actman

On appeal YouTube replied:

“We’ve looked at your content again carefully, and have confirmed that it does violate Community Guidelines. It will not be available on YouTube. We know it may be disappointing, but it’s important that we keep the YouTube community protected."

I'm sure you guys can taste the hypocrisy in that statement👅

Eventually, the story got some attention from the media (thanks @Dexerto )

#justiceforactman & #YouTubeSidesWithHate trending worldwide,

YouTube was forced to respond to the public pressure
dexerto.com/entertainment/… #youtube @GeeksGamersCom @Scottaskew6 @YouTuberNews @PhillyD

YouTube decided to retroactively blame Act Man for 2 deleted tweets threatening & Doxing YouTube employees,

It wasn't Quantum TV's threats & doing that bothered them, but Act Mans

https://twitter.com/TeamYouTube/status/1534952784793149441

#youtube #youtubers @AngryJoeShow @ATHeldut @MalwareTechBlog @benshapiro

If you know the Timeline, then you know this claim from @YouTubeCreators is totally bunk,

deleted tweets came out after video got banned,
satire in RESPONSE to YouTube's actions & apathy

happywarrior.substack.com/p/actman?s=w
@stillgray @ConceptualJames @realJacobAirey @BoundingComics

Additionally, in the case of Quantum TV,

YouTube ruled deleted tweets were not evidence for bad behavior,

So by YouTube's previous actions,
this false justification was a giant spoonful of hypocrisy

https://twitter.com/TheActMan_YT/status/1534954533536735232?s=20&t=QfJ_oPeRCH6LXmbTlcAyLg

#YouTube @CathyYoung63 @bendreyfuss @sullydish

Other rumors abound online for why Act Man got taken down, a popular one suggests Act Man doxed YouTube employees by featuring two of them in Dark Age

However, these were publicly available policy videos, from top YouTube executives & shared w/ YouTubers

heres 2 screen-shots of said employees being supposedly doxed,

as U can tell from the pic on the right, these are official YouTube videos meant for public consumption,

By sharing them Act Man is in no way putting their lives in danger, unless YouTube itself is doing that

the reasons YouTube gave for taking down @TheActMan_YT are completely rubbish,

isn't cuz Act Man harmed or Doxed anyone
though Quantum TV did both in spades,

It's cuz Act Man embarrassed YouTube & laid out clearly YouTube does not fairly enforce policy
happywarrior.substack.com/p/actman?s=w

And for that crime @TheActMan_YT had to be punished & made an example of

Now what happens next is as sad as it is predictable,
Act Man is unlikely to get his channel remonetized

so he either will have to move elsewhere or find an alternative way to make money w/ his channel

https://twitter.com/TheActMan_YT/status/1534779639972757504?s=20&t=M_NpaAmgfakGH0gu9PsAxQ

#actman @Th3Claude @JonBreakBadNews @h3h3productions

Some say he should take legal action,
likely to be difficult & expensive

But YouTube almost always wins these cases (not sure judges even watch YouTube content)

& only w/ extreme pressure do they reverse anything
reuters.com/article/us-goo… @clairlemon @baseballcrank @bennyjohnson

So I hope folks can understand the fear & frustration he is going through,

to sacrifice so much & for so long,
to try to help others & have your own family threatened

& then to have YouTube side w/ ur abuser,
That's a heavy burden to carry alone
happywarrior.substack.com/p/actman?s=w

Having talked w/ other journos & media people
most see this story as a squabble between 2 YouTubers

Respectfully, I disagree

What YouTube did here is despicable.

Social media companies pretend to have rules for behavior on their platforms.

Act Man shows these “rules” mean absolutely nothing.

Act Man, did the right thing, while Quantum TV hurt people and was rewarded for it

This story illustrates YouTube will not defend its own creators, even when they are abiding by YouTube policy.

They use Section 230 & whine about the DMCA stopping them from protecting the community

but when they can do something,
they choose not to
happywarrior.substack.com/p/actman?s=w

What happens in this story is independent of the DMCA & Section 230 debate🤔

YouTube could step in to stop Quantum just by following their own rules,

The cancellation of Act Man shows it isn't Silicon Valley cannot protect free expression & users

It's that they won't❗️

@threadreaderapp unroll