Youtube most definitely has the right to determine what they're going to show on their platform. You may not agree with their choices, but it's their right.
It is easy and cheap to host videos online that can be easily linked to and viewed by anyone.
Welcome to another installment of "but they're a private company".
Who decides what rights private companies have? Do private companies have a right to dump waste into rivers? What about to fire employees because of their race? The rights of private companies are not transcendental - we define them. And if we decide as a society that deleting information from publishing platforms goes against the common good, then we can do that.
> if we decide as a society that deleting information from publishing platforms goes against the common good, then we can do that.
Yeah this sounds nice and all but ultimately someone has to make the rules about what can and cannot be said. Should we never delete any content period? What about child abuse or calls to violence? who gets to define violence? Is telling people that masks don't work a call to violence? Maybe not but you could make the argument.
Ultimately it comes down to who we want to wield this power, and right now it's between corporate interests and the US government. Considering that the ruling party is the one pushing the tech giants into this kind of censorship (pretty evident if you watched the tech hearing last year), I think I'd rather let the corporate interests have the power for now. The funny thing is, me from ten years ago would be outraged by this take. Things have changed pretty fast.
Just because drawing a line in the sand is tricky, doesn't mean we should offload our responsibility to do so in a reasonable way. I'm not advocating for no line - I'm advocating that the entity making the decision is not the private company.
When this all turns around on you (and history says it will because it always does), remember you asked for your voice and the voice of those with similar views to yours to be silenced. Don't expect those whose voices you cheered to be muffled to come to your rescue. Yelling hypocrite won't save you. It's guaranteed to happen. There's no if here, only a when.
I'm not asking for any voice to be silenced, and I strongly disagree with youtube's censorship - but I acknowledge it's their right to do it. We can criticize them all we want, build alternates, boycott them, etc.
It is easy and cheap to host videos online that can be easily linked to and viewed by anyone.