=========
=========
Promoted from the diaries by streiff. Promotion does not imply endorsement.
=========
=========

YouTube finds itself on a short very predictable trip

First they had me  destroy the Russian bots
Because we had to blame someone for Hillary’s loss

Then they me destroy the Alex Jones crazies
Because the mob wanted them and they were easy

Then they pushed me to crack down on the conservatives and free speech absolutists
Because they always had the bad habit of saying unpleasant things

Finally I was just a tool that had served its purpose and no one was left to save me from them.

Mark Twain is purported to have said, “History doesn’t repeat but it often rhymes”, well he is more than likely taking a drag on his cigar and having a shot of whiskey and a good laugh at us from the great beyond now, because we are certainly making history rhyme in ways that put Shakespeare to shame, this time around the fascists have managed to get their victims to put the knife to their own throats.

YouTube has censored harmless channels like Hickock 45 (Fire arms education) , Cody Wilson (3d printed gun),  Fire Arms related channels in general and anything that in general shows how guns are actually part of people’s lives. To political speech that the company doesn’t like Joe Rogan, Praeger U (Ironically a video criticizing censorship was one of the targets)   and Steve Crowder, to name a few. Then there are the channels like Alex Jones which it demonetized and then booted off the service for reasons ?

YouTube likely thought that there would be little blowback when it was seeing how far it could go . When they decided to take out Alex Jones, what would the backlash be from people who enjoy conspiracy theories.  Praeger U what an easy target they were outspokenly supportive of capitalism and had that nasty habit of pointing out how  big business can and will abuse their relationship with government . Well while they were seeing what they could get away with doing to people they didn’t like, people with real power were watching and measuring the rope YouTube was providing to hang themselves. They set the precedents of what is acceptable and alienated the people that would fight for them. Now YouTube finds itself making history’s latest limerick rhyme as it’s CEO is going begging to users to try and keep its ability to operate in the EU alive.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki warns video makers about the threat of a controversial copyright law in the European Union and urges them to “take action immediately” and protest the ruling with videos and social media posts.

“This legislation poses a threat to both your livelihood and your ability to share your voice with the world,” she writes in a blog post published Monday.

Wojcicki focuses on Article 13 of the EU’s new Directive on Copyright, which passed in early September and makes tech platforms liable for copyright-protected content. Essentially, this means that giant platforms that rely on user-generated content, including Google‘s YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, would be responsible for making sure that users don’t share copyrighted material. As it stands now, the platforms aren’t fiscally accountable for violations, although they do need to remove copyrighted content when rights holders ask them too.

Critics say that Article 13 could could threaten people’s ability to share material like memes or parodies.

—CNBC

If only YouTube hadn’t set out to destroy the people that really believe in free speech down to their bones, they would have had a legion of people willing to go to the wall to fight for them. Instead, they are counting on people that are resentful of their success, hateful of perceived American dominance in tech, look at superstates like the EU as the natural evolution of mankind, and have no particular comprehension of the importance of individual rights. The EU is certainly no angel here either, they are looking to shakedown another American tech company and substitute their preferences for YouTube’s. At this point given the way YouTube has acted the EU arguably has a stronger position as they actually are elected and meant to reflect the will of their people, while YouTube has taken governmental powers upon itself because it was there and it could.