Google-owned video platform YouTube has deleted a video that discusses Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s position on transgender children. According to YouTube, discussing the candidate’s position falls afoul of its policy against “harassment and cyberbullying.” The platform reinstated the video without explanation after YouTuber Benjamin Boyce appealed the decision.
YouTuber Benjamin Boyce recently tweeted that a video he posted in which he discussed Joe Biden’s opinion on transgender children and argued against the medical alteration of children was deleted by YouTube for “harassment and cyberbullying.”
Boyce’s tweet about the situation can be seen below, he has since uploaded the video to the independent video-sharing website BitChute:
A video where I argue against medically altering children to align with an identity was deleted by YouTube for "harassment and cyberbullying." It's now on bitchute, if you'd like to tell me what I did wrong (as YouTube likely will not):https://t.co/u008jAZqM7
— 🍂 (@BenjaminABoyce) November 23, 2020
Boyce has appealed YouTube’s removal of the video and posted a screenshot of an email in which it appears that YouTube has reinstated the video, but provided no context around the initial removal or why the video has been reinstated:
Update. No specifics. pic.twitter.com/G4pGmKw0Tv
— 🍂 (@BenjaminABoyce) November 24, 2020
Boyce’s video is currently available for viewing:
YouTube’s policy on cyberbullying and harassment states that it removes any videos that include:
- Content that features prolonged name calling or malicious insults (such as racial slurs) based on their intrinsic attributes. These attributes include their protected group status, physical attributes, or their status as a survivor of sexual assault, domestic abuse, child abuse etc.
- Content uploaded with the intent to shame, deceive or insult a minor. A minor is defined as a person under the legal age of majority. This usually means anyone younger than 18 years old, but the age of a minor might vary by country.
The policy considers insulting those under a “protected group status,” to be harassment, which YouTube states includes “insulting” anyone based on their “Gender Identity and Expression.”
Many Twitter users also reported receiving warning messages when attempting to visit Boyce’s video on BitChute from Twitter:
— katøi (@katoi) November 23, 2020
While Boyce’s video has been reinstated, it is worrying to see that even questioning a political candidate’s position on an issue such as the medical alteration of the gender of children can result in your voice being immediately silenced. Many that do not have an audience as Boyce does could find themselves unable to appeal such censorship.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
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