Big Tech further tightened its grip around free speech this week when YouTube reportedly demonetized Grabien Media’s channel for sharing content unpopular with the company’s overlords.
Grabien, a popular site conservative outlets use to obtain news clips, has been battling YouTube’s censorship over the past several months, starting in May when the tech giant blocked a Grabien video that featured a concerned mother denouncing child mask mandates. On Tuesday, Grabien founder Tom Elliott lamented that YouTube demonetized his company’s channel one week after it pulled a clip featuring former President Donald Trump speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
.@YouTube has demonetized @GrabienMedia’s YouTube channel for sharing content Google doesn’t want shared pic.twitter.com/6U2h0oQyGQ
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) August 11, 2021
Elliott suspected the demonization came in response to a Trump video that Grabien’s YouTube channel featured.
I suspected this was coming after YouTube last month randomly pulled down a Trump clip from CPAC in February, giving our channel a ‘strike,'” he added. “Four days later, they ‘age restricted’ a video, and the next day another.”
Though YouTube said the demonetization stemmed from Grabien allegedly reusing content, Elliott asserted that accusation was untrue.
“Now, a week later, they’ve demonetized the account. Their stated reason is that our channel has ‘re-used content,’ which is untrue. We only post original montages and news clips pulled from public domain news sources. If it were true, surely they would’ve flagged specific clips,” he tweeted.
Now, a week later, they’ve demonetized the account. Their stated reason is that our channel has “re-used content,” which is untrue. We only post original montages and news clips pulled from public domain news sources. If it were true, surely they would’ve flagged specific clips. pic.twitter.com/H6Vjm9djUz
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) August 11, 2021
Despite YouTube’s decision, Elliott said that it would not severely effect Grabien’s bottom a line.
“Unlike many creators who rely heavily on Google for their revenue, our YouTube channel has no real importance to our company,” he said.
Unlike many creators who rely heavily on Google for their revenue, our YouTube channel has no real importance to our company. In fact, their targeting of conservative sites only validates the importance of companies like @GrabienMedia offering better, freer alternatives.
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) August 11, 2021
Four hours later, YouTube responded to Elliott’s announcement by advising him to continue “reviewing” the company’s monetization policies.
(2/2) Note: No active Community Guidelines strikes must be on the acct before doing so. To add, you have the option to appeal the strike (https://t.co/69psVhgCrp) & the age restriction (https://t.co/Z41CFadGVf) if you think they were done by mistake. Reach back out if needed.
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) August 11, 2021
YouTube routinely demonetizes conservative platforms, often with little to no explanation, and for reasons that do not apply to more left-leaning platforms. In January of this year, YouTube demonetized the Epoch Times without identifying the videos that were in violation of its community guidelines.
“YouTube demonetized the Epoch Times and related accounts last week,” said Stephen Gregory, publisher of the newspaper. “This is the latest example of big tech suppression of free speech, a step on the road to communist-style censorship.”
Earlier this week, YouTube issued a one-week suspension to Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) account for posting a video in which he criticized the efficacy of mask mandates to combat the coronavirus.
“They are now banning all my speech, including speech that is given on the Senate floor, which is protected constitutional,” Paul said Tuesday. “YouTube now thinks they are smart enough and godly enough that they can oversee speech, even constitutionally protected speech.”
Follow Paul Bois on Twitter @Paulbois39
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