YouTube’s censorship is an argument for abolishing Section 230

Warping Section 230

YouTube’s censorship of 2020 election criticism is argument for abolishing Sec 230

Op-ed by Micah Curtis

YouTube has benefited from the protections of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act for years. Its selective censoring of the 2020 election content, though, makes the case for why Section 230 should be thrown out.

YouTube’s censorship of the 2020 election criticism is an argument for abolishing Section 230FILE PHOTO: In this photo illustration the US President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden are seen during the first presidential debate on a YouTube video displayed on a screen of a smartphone ©  Getty Images / Pavlo Conchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket

It is becoming more and more common that big tech companies are censoring the opinions of people who upload to their platforms. The latest turn is that YouTube is going to begin deleting videos that are critical of the 2020 election in the United States. It waited until the ‘safe harbor’ deadline of result certification to start doing this, but the election isn’t fully in Joe Biden’s pocket yet, with Donald Trump still counting on a Supreme Court case challenging Biden’s victory in several states.

Most media outlets haven’t even waited that long to declare Biden the president-elect. For those who don’t know, they do not have that kind of power – especially not in an election as momentous and contentious as this year’s.

Trump and his supporters are claiming Biden won because of widespread voter fraud, and claims such as this are what YouTube is no longer going to allow. The ostensible goal is to preserve the integrity of the election – but that’s not the job of a platform enjoying Section 230’s protection. Yet, it’s precisely Section 230 that permits this: declare certain content “harmful” and you can curate it with no consequence for violating people’s free speech. Similar logic was used when Twitter shut down platforms that were discussing the controversies surrounding Hunter Biden.

This is the general issue with YouTube as a platform. The instant it declares something “harmful,” it can get rid of it with no accountability. Preserving electoral integrity is a good thing, but who made YouTube judge and jury? By this logic, should the results of the 2016 election have been likewise ‘preserved’? Have any of the claims that Russian interference put Donald Trump in the Oval Office been deleted? You would think that consistently pushing that narrative even to this day, when it’s been thoroughly debunked, would be just as harmful as claiming fraud in 2020. Forgive me if I get the impression that you’re allowed to question the validity of an election only if a Republican wins.

YouTube is going above and beyond to shut down free speech. It has taken on itself the role of a moral arbiter, telling us which content is harmful and then forbidding us from seeing it. Time is more than sufficient as a tool to show whether these skeptical videos have any validity. The election is going before the Supreme Court, and once that case is decided, only then we will have something that is truly official.

For YouTube to abuse the protections offered under Section 230 shows a willingness to play the part of a partisan guard dog. That’s contrary to freedom of speech, and just about as un-American as you can get without setting Old Glory on fire.

_________

ALSO FROM RT

YouTube says it will DELETE videos claiming 2020 election was fraudulent

*********

(TLB) published this article from RT-USA News with our appreciation for this perspective.

About the author

Micah Curtis

Micah Curtis

Micah Curtis is a game and tech journalist from the US. Aside from writing for RT, he hosts the podcast Micah and The Hatman, and is an independent comic book writer. Follow Micah at @MindofMicahC

••••

••••

Stay tuned to …

 

••••

The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)

••••

Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.

••••

Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.

••••

Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*