Last week, I posted briefly on the racist videos on YouTube and was glad to see that one racist’s account (johnsmithxp1) was suspended. However, johnsmithxp1 is now back as johnsmithxp2 with most of the same videos. Conspicuously missing is the video that sparked interest in the site in the first place — the clips of It’s Elementary (posted now at MassResistance).
For several days now, I have been reporting several videos (for examples, this and this) as hate speech with no change that I can see. If anyone reading this knows a better way to register protests at You Tube over this matter, let me know.
Have you seen OwnagePranks videos? He calls Asian restaurants mocking the way they speak, ordering food he never plans to pick up, redialing, harassing, bullying. He is huge and popular. I know, right. Go figure
I received a racist comment about a video I uploaded on YouTube. But can’t see a link to report the comment or figure out what the complaint process is.
Looks like the author of the comment does this sort of thing a lot.
Websites like Flickr have a more obvious way to report abuse.
I have found several youtubers who post nothing but racist and bigoted videos on there.
I have viewed videos by people of different races, religions, or sexual orientations, and there is always a comment or 200 that are either racist, homophobic, or just plain hateful.
I have cancelled my account over this issue, and switched to Vimeo. At least, for the time being, it’s safer.
Racism on you tube doesn’t stop at just the video posts. I think they should pursuit stopping these posts.
However, have you read the comments lately? Check it out the next time you can. The comments made by users of all persuasions will blow your mind. In general, American have lost their decency (if we ever truly had any).
Been there done that, Marty. I have commented extensively on bringing political struggles into the classroom, most recently when the Days of Silence and Truth were occuring. It’s Elementary has been out there awhile but I was stunned about the racist videos I saw. Call me naive, but I didn’t expect it.
Okay we get that you oppose white supremacy on YouTube Dr.T., but can you tell us how you feel about schoolchildren being taught that having two mothers is “equal” to having a mom & dad?
I described the IP detection as a first step, and for that it would be fine. Most video is uploaded via broadband accounts and, while they are not sold as static, they don’t change often either (my cable modem IP has been the same for over a year). Circumventing this would be trivial for those who are persistent and possess a certain level of knowledge, but many others would be foiled early and easily.
Likewise, video hashing has actually come a long way and a reasonably accurate system could probably be put in place now if Google/YouTube is ready. These systems also learn quickly so even the more savvy will have some problems after it has run for a while. In the end, another more advanced layer of casual users who post racist material would be blocked from doing so with little human intervention. That seems like a good thing, certainly for the YouTube community where these people like to disrupt things as much as possible.
I think the fact that more people are now alerted to such hate material on YouTube is a good thing. Certainly just “not watching” is a poor option in this case, unlike perhaps a badly written TV show. YouTube is a private community, whose owners have already expressed their desire not to host pure hate or racism on their dime.
The First Amendment gives people with most of these views the right to speak in the public square without Government intervention. That’s a far cry from expecting a private concern to actually pay to broadcast it. Not only should they have the final say, but they may even have some liability if they allow it after notification.
Unfortunately, blocking IP addresses won’t work. Most home PCs these days have dynamic addresses, which can and do change. Further, even if the people posting these videos had static addresses, they could simply upload from most libraries or an internet cafe.
Additionally, it would be fairly trivial to modify the video so it doesn’t look like identical content.
if you don’t like the videos, don’t watch them. And don’t post links to them. I would have never seen any of these videos if a link to them hadn’t been advertised here.
Warren, you are engaged in a useless endeavor at YouTube. There have been complaints, even organized ones, against this kind of stuff since soon after the service began. It’s like playing “wackamole” only more frustrating. You can report it all you want, and they will probably respond to some extent, but even if they take down everything you or everyone reading this complains about, it will pop up under different accounts a few hours later.
I’m not saying it should be accepted, but the answer is with YouTube – a system for detecting identical content posted under new accounts must be put in place. A first step would be to monitor new accounts created using the same IPs as canceled ones. As they seem to despise this racist material as much as anyone, I suspect this will happen. This would also be a logical off-shoot of their efforts to detect copyrighted material.
If you really want to help, write a letter to YouTube requesting that they put such a system in place a.s.a.p. Until then, the reality is that you are probably wasting your time.
Good point, Timothy. I think in the remainder of the It’s Elementary video though most of the schools are public.
One thing that has been missed in this conversation is that the “brainwashing” of children “in elementary school” was not at a public school. The “brainwashing” was taking place in Cambridge Friends School, a Quaker school, where parents pay to have their children receive an education based on the religious principles of the Society of Friends (the Quakers).
Quakers generally believe that God wishes them to include gay and lesbian people as equal children of God. This is long established in Quaker gatherings. Their inclusive attitudes and teachings at the school are built upon their faith and their values.
It is the religious values of this old and highly respected religious body that LeBarbera and Camenker find so offensive. And it is the teaching of these religious values that they have labeled “brainwashing”.
I would counsel wise Christians to avoid introducing the notion that children must be protected from religious brainwashing. That notion will not lead to happy places.