Big tech censorship of conservatives continues. Once they censored conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones and other rightwing figures. Now theyre targeting mainstream conservatives including big influential ones. YouTube which is owned by Google just demonetized the videos of popular conservative comedian Steven Crowder. He will no longer be able to make money from them.
His Louder with Crowder" has more than 3.8 million YouTube subscribers. Hes not exactly Stream material. His latest show titled Debunking Universal Income Scam" gives a good example. It includes an invented video of Joe Bidens video producer reacting to his getting handsy with a little girl (it starts at 5:25). It also includes a list of the top seven books for drag queen story hour (it starts at 14:30). One is The Grooming Tree."
The incident arose when Vox video host Carlos Maza went on a rampage demanding that YouTube censor Crowder. Mazas Twitter name is gaywonk" and his Twitter biography includes Marxist pig. Tucker Carlson is a white supremacist." He presents a video series called Strikethrough" for the news site Vox.
Crowder started critiquing Mazas videos two years ago. His critiques apparently began after Maza created a video calling for the removal of right-of-center perspectives from news coverage. Maza launched a twenty tweet obscenity-laced tirade in response. He claimed that Crowders supporters attacked him every time Crowder talked about him. These videos makes me a target of ridiculous harassment and it makes life sort of miserable. I waste a lot of time blocking abusive Crowder fanboys and this s*** derails your mental health" (asterisks added) he said in one tweet.
Crowder regularly speaks in inflammatory language as part of his shtick. He was joking.
Crowder is critical of homosexuality and made fun of Maza with remarks on his being gay. Crowder defended his remarks as friendly ribbing." He said he probably used the term lispy qu**r" because Maza talks with a lisp and refers to himself as a queer. Crowder points out that his show is a comedy show. The comedian regularly speaks in inflammatory language as part of his shtick. He was joking.
Crowders supporters were quick to point out that he was using terms Maza himself uses. frisb714" wrote: Well do you disagree w/labels attributed 2 u by LWC ? I mean u do call urself gayqu**r mexican atheist in public & on social media outlets. So why are u offended by his addressing u the way u address urself."
YouTubes Meddled Response
At first on Tuesday YouTube stated that Crowder had not violated their community standards. The company saidthe remarks were merely deeply offensive" and hurtful." They still qualified as legitimate commentary and debate. YouTube prohibits hate speech which it defines as content promoting violence or hatred" against various types of people or groups. The company also forbids bullying harassment and threats. This includes hurtful and negative comments and comments designed to humiliate someone. But YouTube spokeswoman Andrea Faville admitted Crowder has never instructed his followers to harass Maza. In follow-up tweets the site said As an open platform its crucial for us to allow everyonefrom creators to journalists to late-night TV hoststo express their opinions w/in the scope of our policies. Opinions can be deeply offensive but if they dont violate our policies theyll remain on our site. Even if a video remains on our site it doesnt mean we endorse/support that viewpoint." Maza also objected to one of the shirts Crowder sells which states Socialism Is For F*gs" (the asterisk is on the t-shirt). That was the offense that led YouTube to demonetize the videos. YouTube told Crowder they would reverse the demonetization of his videos if he removed the link to the shirts. Crowder refused on free speech grounds. Finally on Wednesday YouTube admitted it demonetized the site because of the entire channel not just the shirts.Hypocritical YouTube
YouTube hosts videos by comedians who have made far worse jokes than Crowder jokes we dont dare reprint here. Look up almost any of the most famous stand-up comedians. Yet they are not censored.
YouTube hosts videos by comedians who have made far worse jokes than Crowder jokes we dont dare reprint here.
Meza has a history of targeting people he doesnt like. Last December he tweeted Deplatforming works and we should use it way more aggressively." His latest rampage is encouraging people to dump milkshakes on conservatives. This is assault a criminal misdemeanor.
Crowder said this is an example of a powerful media company Vox trying to silence voices it doesnt like. He warned that this is a WAR on ALL independent creators." Hes referring to it as #VoxAdpocalypse.
Not all people on the left want to see Crowder banned from YouTube. The LGBT-friendly left-wing publication The Stranger warns that if YouTube does reverse its decision and start to ban everyone who mocks people for their sexuality or race theyre going to have to ban a whole lot of qu**r people of color who enjoy making fun of straight white dudes next." After all Crowder is a comic doing exactly what comics do: Mocking a public figure. Theres nothing illegal about that."