Speculation Abounds Regarding Youtube's Removal of Crypto Content
At least six crypto Youtube channels have reported in recent hours that their content is being removed under the site’s “harmful and dangerous” policy, with one popular channel claiming Youtube pointed to a “sale of regulated goods.” Chris Dunn is one of these, whose channel has over 200k subscribers and has had multiple videos removed in one fell swoop. There are at least five other channels reporting similar issues and even bans, as the space speculates about possible reasons for the new Youtube crypto purge.
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Users Point to Possible Crypto Purge
Some are speculating that the censorship of prominent crypto channels, which include Chris Dunn, Chico Crypto, The Cryptoverse, Crypto Tips and BTC Sessions, signals a larger purge which may soon come to smaller channels. In Dunn’s case, most of his crypto content was reportedly removed, leaving a very sizable gap in the uploads to his channel which appears to have set him back almost two years of content production.
.@YouTube just removed most of my crypto videos citing "harmful or dangerous content" and "sale of regulated goods"… it's been 10 years of making videos, 200k+ subs, and 7M+ views. WTF are you guys doing @TeamYouTube?! pic.twitter.com/MPcKbBVrC4
— Chris Dunn (@ChrisDunnTV) December 23, 2019
Chico Crypto, who claims to have been banned for a week from the video sharing platform after multiple videos from his 67k-subscribers channel were axed, stated on Twitter:
Literally @Youtube took down a video of me asking hot babes if they have ever heard of bitcoin. Yes that is right just asking if they “heard” of it…. Due to “harmful & dangerous content” I guess it’s to dangerous to hear about $BTC anymore
Chris Coney of Youtube channel The Cryptoverse affirmed he was also affected, stating “They got me too. Email has arrived in my inbox today.” Crypto influencer Tone Vays replied “Shit, my show is called ‘Trading Bitcoin’ I’m sure I will be on their list as well.”
Heidi, creator of the channel Crypto Tips with over 55k subscribers detailed:
My channel has been affected by this new wave of censorship as well. The joys of working with centralized entities with suffocating agendas.
She then went on to tell her users where they could find her if she were to be taken down.
Speculation About Another Possible Reason for Removals
While many are pointing to centrally organized, mass Youtube censorship of crypto, some are wondering if a more personal conflict might be involved. Screenshots from an alleged Telegram conversation posted by Chico Crypto show a user identified as @IamSamSmith stating “This is only the beginning of your demise Chico. You started a war which you will not win. I Sam Smith vow to bring upon you the same pain which you did to me. We will keep flagging.”
The user’s self-description reads: “Fighting back against rasist scammars in crypto.” When news.Bitcoin.com reached out to the user via Telegram, he claimed “I got chicocrypto banned absolutely.” When asked about the other channels he claimed he was involved in the removal of their content as well, saying: “Many of them are anti Indians and they spew hate speech.”
On his Telegram channel, Sam Smith Truth, the user states:
Youtube is finally taking a stand against the ‘white population’ of crypto by removing videos, and giving strikes. Diversity is a beautiful thing and crypto should welcome all backgrounds.
Alternative Platforms
With all the buzz, many in the space are suggesting users migrate their content to less centralized, more censorship-resistant social media platforms. Possible alternatives being pointed to include Dtube, Steemit, Bitchute, Bittube, Dlive and Flote. Whether this is a case of unhappy independent entities reporting the affected channels, or a more centrally organized cleansing of crypto content by Youtube itself remains to be seen. It wouldn’t be the first time the mega-popular video sharing platform has been under fire for unfair censorship and removal of users on controversial grounds. In any case, at least six users are claiming to have been affected by the recent video removals at press time, and the number of complaints appears to be growing.
What do you think is the reason for Youtube’s new wave of censorship? Let us know in the comments section below.
Image credits: Shutterstock, fair use.
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