Once Again, Rather Than Deleting Terrorist Propaganda, YouTube Deletes Evidence Of War Crimes

from the take-a-step-back-and-rethink dept

Wed, Aug 16th 2017 3:42pm — Mike Masnick

It really was just last week that we were discussing the problems of telling platforms like YouTube to remove videos concerning "violent extremism" because it's often tough to tell the difference between videos that many people think are okay and ones that those same people think are not. But in that post, we also linked back to a story from 2013 in which -- after getting pressure from then Senator Joe Lieberman -- YouTube started removing "terrorist" videos, and in the process deleted a channel of people documenting atrocities in Syria.

It appears that history is now repeating itself, because YouTube is getting some grief because (you guessed it), it's effort to keep extremist content off its platform has resulted in deleting a channel that was documenting evidence of war crimes in Syria.

YouTube is facing criticism after a new artificial intelligence program monitoring "extremist" content began flagging and removing masses of videos and blocking channels that document war crimes in the Middle East.

Middle East Eye, the monitoring organisation Airwars and the open-source investigations site Bellingcat are among a number of sites that have had videos removed for breaching YouTube's Community Guidelines.

This comes just days after YouTube announced it was expanding its program to remove "terror content" from its platform -- including better "accuracy." Oops.

Again, there are no easy answers here. You can certainly understand why no platform wants to host actual terrorism propaganda. And platforms should have the right to host or decline to host whatever content they want. The real issue is that we have more and more people -- including politicians -- demanding that these platforms must regulate, filter and moderate the content on their platform to remove "bad" speech. But in the over 4 years I've been asking this question since that last time we wrote about the shut down of the channel documenting atrocities, no one's explained to me how these platforms can distinguish videos celebrating atrocities from those documenting atrocities. And this gets even more complicated when you realize: sometimes those are the same videos. And sometimes, letting terrorists or others post the evidence of what they're doing, people are better able to stop that activity.

There is plenty of "bad" content out there, but the kneejerk reaction that we need to censor it and take it down ignores how frequently that is likely to backfire -- as it clearly did in this case.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: extremism, platforms
Companies: youtube

71 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

That Anonymous Coward (profile), 16 Aug 2017 @ 4:05pm

Gee its almost like a reputable channel, could tell Google they are legit... but that would require the monolith to respond.
Much easier to wave the magic tech wand & "solve" the problem and just deal with the net being cast to wide.

Imagine if YT made a "special" section of YouTube where these videos would be hidden from childrens eyes (and the eyes of those who behave like children). Imagine the PR win of stating they are archiving evidence of war crimes to help the world. Known groups having a place they can keep the documents that aren't going to be subject to the whims of content id or some idiot flagging it as propaganda.

Politicians & society are getting very lazy.
Just have Google do it is the common answer.
Fix copyright
fix terrorism
fix my kid seeing a penis
fix my kid being bullied
HOW DARE YOU LET MY KID SEARCH BLUE WAFFLE!!!
raise my kid for me because I can't be the bad guy to say no when I see them looking at content I don't approve of
watch what my kid does, but not to close!!!

Google is ill prepared to be the parent for the world and its sad that leaders keep demanding it happen.
It's a huge cop out to just demand tech fix the problems but not provide any guidance beyond fix it.
Imagine the shock if they ever figure out Google isn't the internet & just because you made Google do something doesn't mean its fixed across the internet.

People need to stop caring about the soundbites and look deeper.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- That Anonymous Coward (profile), 17 Aug 2017 @ 4:51pm
  
  Re:
  Admit it, some of you googled blue waffle and thats why you didn't vote for me.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 4:12pm

Yet Youtube / Google does well at taking down anti-globalist content!
"Our world is fast becoming a digital censorship grid, where corporate technological behemoths like Google (who own YouTube) and Facebook rig algorithms (which control search engine results and news feeds) to elevate the information they want you to see and bury the information they don't want you to see."
http://www.activistpost.com/2017/08/20-declassified-files-prove-governmental-crime-conspiracy-p art-1.html

Also just headline: "Alex Jones Joins Diamond & Silk In Massive Lawsuit Against Google / YouTube Discrimination"

---

Up for 24 minutes, no comments. We can gauge decline of Techdirt two ways: how long fanboys take to say anything of their own, and how fast they are with ad hom one-liners on dissent.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Stephen T. Stone (profile), 16 Aug 2017 @ 4:31pm
  
  Re:
  What?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    
    Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 6:30pm
    
    Re: Re: Yet Youtube / Google does well at taking down anti-globalist content!
    @ "What?" by "Stephen T. Stone": HA! Techdirt fanboys have lost even the ability to gainsay, are down to ONE WORD showing puzzled.
    
    What, eh? Okay, here's a re-post for you:
    
    Yet Youtube / Google does well at taking down anti-globalist content!
    
    "Our world is fast becoming a digital censorship grid, where corporate technological behemoths like Google (who own YouTube) and Facebook rig algorithms (which control search engine results and news feeds) to elevate the information they want you to see and bury the information they don't want you to see."
    http://www.activistpost.com/2017/08/20-declassified-files-prove-governmental-crime-conspiracy-p art-1.html
    
    Also just headline: "Alex Jones Joins Diamond & Silk In Massive Lawsuit Against Google / YouTube Discrimination"
    
    ---
    
    Up for 24 minutes, no comments. We can gauge decline of Techdirt two ways: how long fanboys take to say anything of their own, and how fast they are with ad hom one-liners on dissent.
    
    ---
    
    Oooh, all of FIVE comments after two and a half hours!
    
    But are quick to censor, though I still say that's administrator approved at the least -- apparently on own initiative when recognize my comments! But can never get an answer out of Techdirt as to whether an administrator is involved, though its virtual sock-puppets claim to speak with authority that it isn't. (I think they're just deluded as usual.)
    
    I've often noted to myself that Techdirt is the ONLY web-site I've ever seen using this infuriating tactic of "hiding" comments. -- That's because everyone but the fanboys hates it. But Techdirt is clearly not interested in drawing or keeping reasonable persons, so continues this tactic even though must cause fewer readers and commentors.
    
    The admininstrators are not brave enough to admit they okay the "hiding", nor to delete comments, so they just pretend it's sheerly by readers. There's NO commenting guidelines, just assertions by fanboys of a "community" with unknown standards (for dissenters only, fanboys never), no numbers for how many clicks takes (and certainly not with ratio to readers who didn't click), no appeal: just uniquely arrogant in NOT explaining, implying the owner is above all questions, a little prince of teh internets.
    
    WEIRD is the only adjective for this forum. -- Fanboys even deny it's a forum, let alone public! Supposed to be a walled-garden echo-chamber of support for teh prince.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 10:16am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Yet Youtube / Google does well at taking down anti-globalist content!
      Bye Felicia.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 6:06pm
  
  Re: Yet Youtube / Google does well at taking down anti-globalist content!
  Very cool, thanks for the post about Diamond & Silk - I knew this was coming but I didn't know it landed.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 9:04pm
  
  Re: Yet Youtube / Google does well at taking down anti-globalist content!
  You may be shocked to discover that not everyone sits around waiting for posts to comment on.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 5:29pm

One person's documenter is another's terrorist.
I imagine those committing war crimes could be terrified about being caught. YouTube apparently doesn't want that to happen.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- JEDIDIAH, 17 Aug 2017 @ 9:01am
  
  Re: One person's documenter is another's terrorist.
  ISIS has no problem with this. They are fine with committing atrocities and having their names attached to it.
  
  Now how to you distinguish between someone bragging about it and someone else reporting it?
  
  Of course you don't actually have to "show" it to report it. That's another level of subtlety here.
  
  Machines tend to be really bad when it comes to subtlety.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Capt ICE Enforcer, 16 Aug 2017 @ 6:27pm

Real solution
Long Live AOL.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 6:44pm

Why can't you all understand?
What goes around, comes around.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 8:14pm

At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
Techdirt has repeatedly spread the lie that the readers of Techdirt use the flag button in order to hide posts, and there is a numeric counter of the number of flags that triggers a post being hidden. That's a provable lie from multiple angles. Measuring the behavior of comments disappearing belies that explanation, comments disappear in order, along the same stream of comments, within a few seconds of each other. There is a single human behind the decision, multiple humans with multiple opinions simply could not behave in such a coordinated fashion. To back that up, Techdirt is in litigation, so all their code and all their records and logs regarding their editorial process is subject to discovery. At the heart of Techdirt (the editorial process) there is a lie.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 9:03pm
  
  Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
  Yes, there is a vast conspiracy to silence you. It's definitely not that other commenters find you obnoxious.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    
    Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 9:06pm
    
    Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
    I never said it was a conspiracy, only that it was a lie. Which it is, provably. Techdirt established it's own "Supremacy" based web site, expressing weak and uneducated opinions with stupid conclusions, just as white supremacists do. They are more similar than different in their practice of supremacy, just ask the Thai people.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 9:32pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
      You are not proving what you think you are proving.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        
        Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 9:35pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Well, let's see, Stephen T. Stone told a story about someone using the word "nigger", getting smashed in the nose, and threatened with more violence should he do so again. He told and defended that story. Meanwhile, Ninja can say terrible hateful things about the Thai king, injuring whole country of people who love him, and be celebrated right here on this forum. This is textbook supremacy, right? If YOU use the wrong word, you deserve violence and threats of violence. If I use disgusting and hateful language to injure others, I'm cool, hip and the usual leader of comments. This is Techdirt Supremacy, right?
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 9:42pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Are you auditioning to replace Alex Jones?
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        
        Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 9:54pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Don't know who he is.
        
        su·prem·a·cist
        
        /so͞oˈpreməsəst/
        
        noun: supremacist; plural noun: supremacists
        
        an advocate of the supremacy of a particular group, especially one determined by race or sex.
        "a white supremacist" " or "a Techdirt supremacist" (very similar)
        
        adjective
        
        adjective: supremacist
        
        relating to or advocating supremacy of a particular group, like Google Globalists.
        
        Techdirt is supreme to Thailand and the Thai people, right? Read their articles. Techdirt is supreme to the constitution and black letter US law, right?. Read their articles. Techdirt is the self-proclaimed slimy "Tip of Google", supreme to American Law, the American President, American History and American Values. All bow to the Supremacy of Techdirt (not).
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 11:28pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        But what about the frogs?
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 9:52pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
      Considering this site regularly goes over various legal actions and the laws that pertain to them (along with supplying the court documents, something most sites generally won't do)...
      
      I'd hate to think what your idea of being 'educated' would happen to be.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        
        Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 10:07pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Some areas, like patents, take a little education to understand. Even attorneys specialize in just this field, it's not an area of general practice. Techdirt is demonstrably uneducated in this area. Really, no kidding.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 10:30pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Go to bed Hamilton.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 12:13am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        The guy who tried to patent podcasting got his patent thrown out by the judges, despite all the "specialized attorneys" you hope exist and tried to push his case forward.
        
        Get over yourself, or campaign to have those judges removed.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 12:18am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        I don't hope they exist, I know they exist, a lot of them are my friends. Are all patents good? Of course not. Are all patents bad? Of course not. That's just Supremacist stupidity, just substitute black people for patents. Patents are patents. Attorneys are attorneys. Some are good, some are bad. But the elite Supremacists at Techdirt are uniquely unqualified to even comment on patents. Schultz and Colonel Klink knew more about patents than these idiots, but that doesn't stop them from opining on them without end. Just point out that out. Public service for my friend Donald.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 5:57am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Wait ... the topic is patents?
        
        -- re reads title --
        
        no, the topic is not patents
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Toom1275 (profile), 17 Aug 2017 @ 6:31am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        "just substitute black people for patents."
        
        Your fantasies about supremacy get even more hilarious if you take your statement I quoted above comoletely out of its context (such as it is).
        
        "Substitute black peoole for patents. Just go down to the governments local black people branch, fill out a form, and get issued a black person who you can use to keep your iinnovatove idea safe fron copycats."
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 7:47am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        What I was trying to say is that racist idiot arguments about black people or about Jewish people are just as stupid as Techdirt's arguments about patents. "Get rid of them all" is a really really stupid idea, whether we are talking about people or patents. Judging them without regard to the content of their characters (or their patent bodies) is the sign of an idiot who can't think about a complex problem in a complex way, and instead jumps to a simple but stupid conclusion.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 8:44am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Add false equivalences to the mountain of things you are ignorant about.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 8:54am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        I don't know, what do you think, does a patent have a character? Can you judge it on some kind of scale of good and bad, worth and unworthy? I think you can. Zipper patents, I especially love those. Brilliant, the interlocking segments with the little round tip. Wow. I think like people, patents have to be judged as individuals, and deserve some consideration before being disconsidered. They came from people who were doing their best to celebrate a new invention, who were proud of their work, and did their best to spell it out. Brilliant people, smart people, and a few others. But people, nonetheless. Their ideas, their patents, are worth consideration before being discarded.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 9:19am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        And you understand that if you disconsider patents, if you break the patent system as is suggested here over and over, the associated inventions just won't be built, they will be abandoned. Many things make no business sense without the patent, because fakes otherwise appear immediately after demand. So kiss your zippers goodbye, and most other things familiar to you in your daily life, they would never have happened without patents. You guys are like the Technology Taliban, you want to revert to an earlier more primitive time. And, you're kind of nasty.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 12:41pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Please go tell a black person that racism is equivalent to a disagreement about patent law.
        
        Tell me how that works out for you.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        JEDIDIAH, 17 Aug 2017 @ 9:04am
        
        Don't be THAT lawyer.
        So you're going to use that kind of lame appeal to authority?
        
        The underlying principles are not at all complicated. It only gets "complicated" when you start trying to justify the anti-social and counter-productive nonsense.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 11:45pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
      You know you don't have to stay?
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 12:13am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        It's a public service on behalf of my friend and neighbor Donald J. Trump. President Donald J. Trump. POTUS. He approved this message, in my mind, more than once. He and I both believe it is a worthwhile endeavor to restore some American values to American media. And since Mike technically resides in America (not Maxico) he would be considered an American Media Supremacist. That he, he thinks he is Supreme to American Law and American History and American Opinion. I'll bet he was surprised at the last election (admit it, Mike). Public Service. I'm here to stay, forever.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 12:34am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        lol
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 6:27am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        No matter how much you fawn over him Hamilton he's not gonna suck you off.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - PaulT (profile), 17 Aug 2017 @ 12:58am
      
      Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
      "Which it is, provably."
      
      Why do you always refuse to prove it, then?
      
      "Techdirt established it's own "Supremacy" based web site, expressing weak and uneducated opinions with stupid conclusions, just as white supremacists do."
      
      What the actual fuck?
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 1:02am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Profanity proves my point, you Techdirt Supremacist.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        PaulT (profile), 17 Aug 2017 @ 1:25am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Your point being that your mental faculties are disappearing even faster than normal?
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 1:33am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Profanity proves nothing. In at least a few countries, it is well laced into common speech. In Japan, words that are considered profanity (i.e. Dammit) is used in children's cartoons.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 2:35am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Well, how about idiocy, then, that proves my point, doesn't it? White supremacists are idiots, right? And Techdirt Supremacists are idiots, right? They both use profanity, they both tend to be under educated, they both seem to have passionate beliefs in their own correctness, and view everyone else's opinion with disdain, right? Read PaulT's stuff or read Ninja's stuff. They both view any opinion other than his with disdain, try to deny that. Try to deny that they don't care a whit about the law if it doesn't fit his personal agenda (for example, Thai law). Find anything in any of his writing that leaves room for a different point of view. He's a Techdirt Supremacist, so sure of himself he's ridiculous. Can't laugh at himself at all. Not like me even a little. No funny stories, name one, You remember kissing the Hamilton ring? Funny, right? I'm not a Supremacist, I'm an entertainer. Much better class of person.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        PaulT (profile), 17 Aug 2017 @ 2:48am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        "And Techdirt Supremacists are idiots, right?"
        
        The phrase you invented that you think has some meaning is idiotic, sure.
        
        "They both view any opinion other than his with disdain, try to deny that."
        
        Only the ones that are truly deserving of that. Other opinions are treated otherwise.
        
        "I'm an entertainer"
        
        Oh, so you admit you don't state your honest opinion, you just troll to entertain yourself? Glad you decided to come clean for once.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 2:52am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Only a Supremacist would think it is inconsistent to express your honest opinion simultaneously with entertaining yourself and others. Ever read Shakespeare? (Probably not)
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 5:59am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Hope you do not make a mess whilst "entertaining" yourself
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Toom1275 (profile), 17 Aug 2017 @ 6:36am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Too late. Scooter Hamilton McChucklefuck III here has made a mess of every comment section he's targeted for abuse. At least those errant gray patches sprinkled throught the comment threads are far less unsightly than the stool behind them.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- PaulT (profile), 17 Aug 2017 @ 12:57am
  
  Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
  "There is a single human behind the decision"
  
  As ever we await the proof behind you paranoid idiotic ramblings. It's been a very long wait, and I suspect we will be waiting a lot longer.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 1:03am
    
    Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
    I think we already established that you are waiting for a lot of things.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - PaulT (profile), 17 Aug 2017 @ 1:25am
      
      Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
      Yes, but unfortunately the dishonest ACs that litter this place never provide the evidence we wait for. I wonder why that is.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 5:08am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Waiting and wondering, that pretty much defines your uneducated existence, right?
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        PaulT (profile), 17 Aug 2017 @ 5:46am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Well, you could educate me by providing evidence for your nonsense claims. Yet, here you are avoiding that simple action. Is it because you're lazy or because your assertions are not based on fact?
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 6:41am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Look, Paul (if that's your name), you're a superior schmuck, right? You provide your own evidence of that. You could not be more condescending or self congratulatory if you tried, and it is clear that you do try. What you don't try to do is to understand other people's point of view, at all, ever. Whom you deign worthy (who share your mis-guided views) you tepidly agree with, and everyone else is just totally wrong, ignorant, not backed up with facts, etc. What horseshit that is, you superior schmuck. What your friend Ninja said (another superior schmuck) about the Thai king is disgusting and dismissive of a whole country and whole people. How much more evidence do you need of your self-perceived superiority? Here's some more evidence - you're not funny, at all. You never laugh at yourself, you superior schmuck. Every normal American laughs at you, I can guarantee you that. Ask any of my friends. You're hilarious. You don't mean to be, but you are. You are a caricature of a self absorbed Superior schmuck.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        PaulT (profile), 17 Aug 2017 @ 6:52am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        So, you have no evidence of what you claimed. Cool.
        
        Your paranoid rambling should therefore be ignored as there is no reality behind it, just the ravings of a lunatic.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 6:59am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        Yes, thank you for pointing that out. The paranoid ramblings should indeed be ignored, sorry they slip out sometimes. I know the Tonto stories are a little much, but the original Indians in the Berkshires made a big impression on me as a kid, it still pains me to think about those people, long gone. I used to find their arrowheads and hammerheads in the woods behind my house. Anyway, enough of that, ignore that, you're right.
        
        BUT
        
        I do have careful records of exactly how and when posts are hidden. What do you think I posted so many? That was kind of the point, you see. It was done with a lot of precision (thank you very much) and the records are really, really clear. Several months of records, and pretty closely timed hiding events. Pretty easy to set up and prove, and now it's all done.
        
        Thanks for playing.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 8:47am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        I for one, can't wait to see what Hamiltons master plan is. Other than masterbate about Trump, that is.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 5:07pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        So still no proof, then.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 6:58pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        This is a man proud of his heritage of magical forests and fairies, and he expects to be taken seriously.
        
        For most people, if they were to proclaim a belief in fairies, they would be (rightly) ridiculed. Hamilton is lucky that one of the guards in the madhouse was kind enough to permit him usage of the Internet.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        PaulT (profile), 18 Aug 2017 @ 2:11am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        "I do have careful records of exactly how and when posts are hidden."
        
        Thanks for confirming that you're an obsessed weirdo, I guess..
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        The Wanderer (profile), 18 Aug 2017 @ 12:45pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        ...your writings are starting to remind me a little bit of the ramblings of SpectateSwamp.
        
        Only I think he was even less coherent, and even less able to remain on topic.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        JMT (profile), 17 Aug 2017 @ 5:47pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
        "Look, Paul (if that's your name), you're a superior schmuck, right?"
        
        Well he's doing a superior job repeatedly asking you for the proof of something you keep calling 'provable', and you're doing a superior job of deflecting and ignoring every request. The obvious conclusion is that you're full of shit.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 6:09am
  
  Re: At the heart of Techdirt there is a lie
  Actually, I'm going to flag your post because not only is it off topic of this post, it is wildly off target. I mean, WTH? So no, not taking anything you post as serious. If you want to make accusations, back them up with facts, links, etc.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2017 @ 8:31pm

A Question For Michael Masnick, the Techdirt Supremacist
Mike, see if you agree with me: Many of those stupid white supremacists are just uneducated and lazy. They feel passionate, but they are just too lazy to work out how to explain the world we live in. So, they jump to conclusions that are easy to say and feel good, rather than stepping up and taking the time and energy to appreciate non-supremacist values, which are actually provably better, just ask the American people.

Don't you think that Techdirt extols a supremacy of it's own, based on same of the same fundamentals? You're a dropout, right, along with most of the other uneducated writers and posters here. You can't work out some fundamental truths, like no system of government is perfect, each and every one has it's flaws. But rather than accepting that obvious truth, you want to abolish patent and copyright, because it's easier for you to comprehend. Because you are a Techdirt Supremacist, ready to denigrate and degrade the completely innocent (like your articles about Thai) and then promote your idiot ideas like abolishing constitutional protections for inventors.

You're a Techdirt Supremacist, right, you ideas are supreme, right, and everyone else is just dirt to you, right?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 10:19am
  
  Re: A Question For Michael Masnick, the Techdirt Supremacist
  Careful Hamilton, or the nice men in white coats will take away your internet access again.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- JMT (profile), 17 Aug 2017 @ 5:52pm
  
  Re: A Question For Michael Masnick, the Techdirt Supremacist
  "...idiot ideas like abolishing constitutional protections for inventors."
  
  No such thing.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Droidalyzer, 16 Aug 2017 @ 11:29pm

YouTube Deletes Evidence Of War Crimes
Why youtube why are removing the actual evidences?
Deleting a channel who documenting the atrocities in Syria doesn't sounds fair though! . Let world come to know what really happens ther.....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 6:00am
  
  Re: YouTube Deletes Evidence Of War Crimes
  Hopefully the content will be preserved elsewhere
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 3:21am

one of the things needed is for politicians, who know next to fuck all about what they are commenting on, to stop commenting on the stuff and to stop using what they are doing to simply 'grand stand' in front of other politicians and/or members they supposedly represent!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Loki, 17 Aug 2017 @ 6:14am

Well, to be honest, war crimes are essentially a form if terrorism, and the people perpetrating them see "documentation" and "propaganda" as essentially the same thing, so it's no big surprise they'd want these videos taken down as well.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ninja (profile), 17 Aug 2017 @ 6:58am

Solution: don't remove at all. Let the platform moderater and instead of removing just hide it and warn when people want to access. Then we can just counter the idiocy with speech.

Of course we need to thicken our collective skins first.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- JEDIDIAH, 17 Aug 2017 @ 9:08am
  
  You can't handle the truth.
  It's like we find ourselves in The Culture but aren't ready for it yet.
  
  There are still far too many things that we should feel "shame" over.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2017 @ 9:58am

Google's YouTube blatantly censors videos mostly because: terrorism, children, copyright infringement (even if there's no copyright), and "hate speech".
[ link to this | view in chronology ]