YouTube Censorship Update (Public Post) (Patreon)

Just wanted to give you guys an update on the flagging and take-down of our first YouTube video, 'Miami Beach Spring Break.' The video hit 350k views in 9 hours and then quickly, was removed by YouTube without much explanation. 

The Miami Beach Spring Break video featured a brief interview with two anti-vaxers. The first interview, which was with a younger Black dude in an Ice Cube t-shirt (featured full-length in Part 3), was reduced to under 30 seconds. Because of helpful feedback I got from you guys, I completely cut out his antivax rant from the YouTube cut. The only vaccine-related quote I featured from him was; "I'm personally not getting vaccinated because I don't trust the government," followed his friend saying "that's how they got AIDS in Africa, from the polio vaccine."

The second interview was with a drunk, bearded Florida man who expressed his love for Vans, and then declared, "fuck COVID, it's like the flu. Shout out to jack and coke." 

Before I dive into my depressing correspondence with YouTube, I want to explain the importance of featuring the first interview.

I think it's really important to canvas public opinion in a welcoming and non-confrontational way, from a place of passive listening that makes interviewees comfortable and willing to to speak their minds. So showing, not telling, our viewers that a lot of antivax thought (particularly in the Black community) is NOT from a place of ignorance, but from a deep-rooted distrust in the the American government and it's associated bodies (i.e. WHO and CDC) is an important dynamic to understand during this time, as we now phase out of global quarantine. 

Wether we're covering Flat Earth Theory, drinking at barn parties with Western Chauvinists or marching down Hollywood Boulevard with qAnon believers, we have always walked the line between 'platforming' and exposing misinformation. What I mean is -- in terms of misinformation and harmful conspiracy theories, we believe sunlight is the best disinfectant. 

The precedent that YouTube has set here for the future of Channel 5 is pretty alarming. I'll walk you guys through what happened. 

1) Initial Removal Notice: After 9 hours of the video being live, we got a notification saying our video had been taken down for violating YouTube's Community Guidelines

2) When I went to submit an appeal, I was told that the Community Guideline I violated was in regard to 'Medical Misinformation,' because YouTube does not allow content that explicitly disputes the statements of the World Health Organization. 

3) I immediately appealed, and received a swift response, denying my appeal on medical misinformation grounds. I was told that if I posted something similar again, wherein someone disagrees with the World Health Organization, I'd be banned from YouTube for a week. 

4) Using some connections in the YouTuber world, I was able to get through to a Partner Manager Lead, who told me he'd look into it.

5) The next day, that same Partner Manager Lead told me he was working on it, and would update me when he had any word. He ultimately couldn't do anything about the video, and basically stopped responding, but connected me with a higher-up, the Operations Manager at YouTube.

6) I was told by the Operations Manager that they would be reaching out to 'policy,' but heard nothing yet, and was told that I should consider re-uploading the video without any COVID misinformation, and that the initial video can't be re-released. I am assuming that meant that I would have to cut out any interviews wherein partiers talk about the virus, so I pressed on, trying to figure out from the Operations Manager which EXACT interview needed to be cut to ensure this wouldn't happen again. 

7) I was finally told by the Operations Manager that the video may have been taken down because of the  "Fuck COVID. It's like the flu" line from the drunk guy in the Vans t-shirt that got the video taken down. Shortly after disputing this, I received little-to-no correspondence from the Operations Manager and was left in the dark. 

...

So that's what happened. Doesn't look like the video is going to be put back up. Moving forward, I think I am going to try to re-upload the Miami Beach Spring Break video to YouTube, and just cut all interviews about the virus and bleep out the words 'COVID,' 'vaccine,' 'rona,' and so forth. 

Honestly, I'm pretty bummed out that the YouTube launch went this way but fuck it, more for Patreon and it's a sign of what's to come. It's seems like an indication that I should tread lightly when it comes to 'controversial' topics on the new YouTube sphere. 

Will let you guys know when the new cut is live! 

Best

Andrew