YouTube Censorship Update (Public Post)

Robert Gault

@andrew I want to help with your channel and project. Wondering if you can contact me or give me a personal email address to reach you at. I would like to give you some money to invest in new videos and I’m super interested in what you may put together for Ukraine. Does anyone know where to email him or his team without having to use IG? I fucking hate social media and would rather not start a new IG.

Jason Wolski

Just watched it in full today. Those changes did make a difference vs the comp I saw

Unfortunately there are enough idiots that think an anchor not immediately retorting a random Americans opinion means that the anchor condones the opinion.

Ian Favel

Thats bullshit. Its not anchors saying it its you and I. Its not misinformation when its the opinion of some random American. Just because you interview someone thats misinformed, doesn't mean your promoting it. YouTube sucks. Good luck on patreon. Make some Channel 5 merch.

I was able to watch it full today

Tim MacGyver

Here's a theme song! https://youtu.be/HaYE85wrUWI

Tim MacGyver

Channel 5 (Theme Song or Poem) Not afraid to dive, head first, He can take our worst Seeing how we’re living hearing so many opinions Giving voices to voices Their sharing their choices Learning there’s a lot of fuss an open mind,a must Hearing what’s going down , what they’re thinking in town Bringing us together In any weather Finding out more, diving in at the core In the belly of the beast, not afraid at the least Andrew Callaghan He’s our man! He’s the guy at channel 5, the guy at channel 5

you are truth

MmmhhhWaffles

GOD BLESSSSSSS THIS MAN AND HIS DAMN CHANNEL

theyre more responsive to larger channels.

At this point I'm just amazed that they even responded especially since the policy team is seemingly on holiday

seems like its back up now even with the "offending" comments

Um is it just me or is the video back? I watched it when it was originally released and then tried again to see that it had been deleted. I am currently watching it right this second..

I agree with everyone here. Censor or something, don't let YouTube take you down, those idiots. Your exposing of everyone's true honest opinions is what makes this channel the best.

Ben Naylor

I totally get where you're coming from, but there's that ol saying "there's no such thing as bad publicity", which can be applied to the conspirarcy theorists, and mis information nuts. The issue with anyone spouting rubbish is that some people will go "yeah, that's okay to think that because other people think it too". I mean, the vast majority of us won't believe that horse shit, but at the same time it's the people on the fence that are getting swayed, and that's where the harm is done. But yeah, I agree, the sunlight is the steriliser, but I do see why the youtubes is hard pressing on this one. I'm tired of conspiracies becoming bigger personally, but sigh, freedom, something something

Danny Buchanan

I know that a lot of YouTube channels started using code words to refer to the pandemic (e.g the game grumps call it the Backstreet Boys Reunion Tour) and they don't get flagged. I'd say upload versions where the word covid is bleeped out, and people on YouTube would be able to kinda guess what's being said, and upload the uncensored versions to patreon. Youtube is annoying as fuck for not being straight forward with explaining things. I hope you guys find a way to be able to sustain yourselves on YouTube.

Tristan H.

Man I’m so sorry it went this way. YouTube is a real bitch when it comes to flagging and taking down videos.

Tom

I think Jan 6th showed us that many people really are that dumb I’m afraid

George

Terrifying outcome man. This is the way the cotton wool clad world is going. People are really deemed that dumb and unable to make a decision for themselves. Nobody researches anything anymore and just takes what they see as the gospel.

Kyle Z

Does this have to do with the fact that you're now running an independent channel, or has YouTube made the guidelines stricter lately? You're taking the right approach to misinformation, Andrew, keep up the good work!

cofvefe

Varian Edward Garza Reyes

Kafkaesque bullshit

paul Electric

Sounds like the works of doing something. Y'all are doing nothing other than reporting and YouTube should see that. Whatever, got a just continue on and play the game. Glad I was able to see it

Thanks for everything you are doing. The raw look at American people and what they feel and think has been refreshing. Even when I was mad about the folks mobbing the beaches the last year shoulder to shoulder, unmasked and/or unvaccinated, it's still interesting to see why they feel the way they do and to empathize more with how they want to live their lives.... even if I vehemently disagree with them at times!

it made me sign up for patreon so theres that lmao

Brendan Walsh

Keep fighting it. I've seen you cover plenty of extremists responsibly, you can handle this.

Honestly I do see both side cuz of all my the dumbasses on the other side but in a business point I think if you keep posting your new videos but a shorter version to you tube and if they take it down just let hasan or others commentary on ur short video to sub to ur patreon and get the full. Just a thought

Wtf

What in those series of videos proved his intent. YouTube doesn’t know that. The average couch potato doesn’t either.

I see both sides. Perhaps YouTube isn’t the best platform for your content anyway.

Lawrence Luo

What a world we living in jeez

Youtube support and moderation is notoriously heavy handed and random, just bleep the offending bs with a [CENSORED] and fart noises.

Abe Joyal

I literally wrote a dissertation about pseudoscience, y’all are taking the correct approach. In fact listening to these people is necessary to fighting the spread of pseudoscience

Crowder posted a video this week where he "proves" that kneeling on a person's neck for ten minutes is not fatal. I wonder if the WHO would agree that strangulation is non-fatal

Richard Springfield

"we believe sunlight is the best disinfectant." Brother man, you guys are on the right path. Blessings to you and everyone you ever meet.

Support !

Doug Justice

i love what you're doing, keep up the great work yall. sorry youtube is giving you trouble, i wish everyone could see and support the value in what you guys are doing. by the way, would love to see some stuff from you guys regarding the current situation in MN. thanks for doing what you do!

Dude fuck YouTube be apart of the real generation of media leaving for better places like here

Ah yes, because when we just leave these conspiracy theories to hide in the shadows it definitely won't fester and grow into a larger thing... oh wait. Your approach is correct Andrew, keep doing what you're doing, shine a light on the zeitgeist and insanity of our country! You're doing amazing work.

Dalton Rose

Furthermore, are there not multiple videos still up on the AGNB YouTube that have the same anti-vax sentiment but haven't been taken down? Seems like a double standard

creamyjeans

fuck dem youtube bitches

Advertising > creators for YouTube.

Dalton Rose

Isn't satire/parody "protected free speech"? Fuck YouTube

Jes C.

i fukkin see you dude

Jes C.

Also, the amount of emotional labour you just had to do explaining this experience. respect.

Jes C.

Andrew you don't gotta explain SHIT. what y'all do is art and the fans who actually be fucking with your shit fucking SEE what yall do. fuck youtube. your work is so important

Conrad Walt

such a hypocritical move on their part considering they literally platform steven crowder and other white supremacists

steve-o

This is absurd. But please, if you're going to censor the yt versions, use clown honks instead of the regular beeps.

Shane Dowling

Hmmm seems like the algorithms can’t detect the difference between targeted misinformation and reporting another opinion. I’d guess it’s a dumb word lookup with a little bit of sentiment analysis to know if it’s positive or negative statement. The obvious damage here it clearly eliminates any interesting insights to be had from anti vaxxers and what could be learned to bridge the conversation.

Viktor Drobyshevskiy

Question those who you are not allowed to criticize. If we live in a free country with freedom of speech, why are we not allowed to have an opinion or discuss these things openly? The fact that is not allowed alone, should be a major red flag to anyone!

Victor

youtube sold out...if you're not affiliated with any of the big media companies, you're sacrificial if...idk, they're grumpy or something

Fuck YouTube man, super bummed for you Andrew but hopefully it will all work out for the best and YouTube realise they’re being stupid and back peddle.

Aidan Rose

I’m not smart... at all... so was wondering if a legal suit is possible and or worth it

Ethan Davidson

any plans to move to another video platform? I know youtube has the most reach, and idk if vimeo or anywhere else has less censorship, but I feel like that much censorship will remove a lot of what makes your coverage special. Having things on patreon is nice, but I don't want your content to be limited to just the people who can afford it.

YouTube is fucked with how they handle content. But at least you got a response in the end

Joe

So is there any difference between patreon levels and content provided?

Michaela

I mean I hope anchors on Fox news don’t go spreading misinformation about c*vid but there’s a difference in it coming from the person being interviewed rather than the journalist acting like the compilation of the research suggests cov*d is like the flu. i think you’re doing really fantastic work in showing the real ass american truth without censoring it. It puts a lot more focus on listening to the people and not the talking head at the desk. You’re kind of forcing people to listen to the why and have empathy for each other by not representing them... if that makes sense. People need to do more listening these days.

Flavia

Ngl I'm not as surprised as I am just disappointed. It's a bleak world we live in when you literally can't document historical events even while staying non biased to the issue for fear that it'll misguide people if they watch it. In my opinion, it's similar to not being able to document the second world war for fear that it'll promote another genocide. Which is fucking wack because even if you try to teach people about equal rights, they'll discriminate if they want to cause in the end people will do and say what ever the fuck they want. Anyways, I'm sure yall will figure out a way around their guidelines, I believe in you! I'll continue to support you nonetheless 🥰

would they accept the video with a "slide" of the facts at the end? or some other kind of disclaimer to what people are saying?

Agreed, put the old cuts somewhere else please. This stuff should be archived.

On the plus, hopefully this gets more visibility and your patreon gets bigger because of it.

I appreciate your world view and approach on this. It's hard to see how thoughtful you are about your work just by watching your content. But clearly you've put a lot of consideration into how you present your experiences. The context you bring to your work, in this write up is enlightening. Hopefully some day the slippery slope of misinformation and showing people as they are, wont be so hard to travel. You're doing great work man, keep it up.

Ned Katz

Please don't 'tread lightly' on controversial topics, at least for the Patreon audience. I understand you gotta do what you gotta do for Youtube, but it would be a great shame for you all to avoid challenging material entirely because of this.

Devon Wright

Yeah this is weird. It's one thing to put out a video with the direct intent to misinform, like OAN or that MyPillow guy, but this is clearly not your intention, and it only makes up a small part of the video.

Billy Crystal Meth

The people are behind you we’ll subscribe to a channel 5 vhs mailing list if we have to

thats such bullshit

Beau

As long as you're gettin my money on here baby! Keep doin what you are doin!

Avery Schneidt

Fuck youtube, their censorship has gone way too far. No better time than the present to support channel 5 on patreon!

Something I've been wondering about and maybe just don't know from a creator's perspective: why don't "controversial" content creators submit their content on PH? They seem to have the bandwidth and infrastructure to host videos easily and seem to be more lax with their upload policies. This isn't really family-friendly content, so I don't see why it needs to be on youtube if you need to be a Patreon member to view the content, anyway, unless that's no longer the case with these videos.

Parker Anderson

That might all change as you get more validity with channel 5. That’s bullshit tho and I think you do an incredible job towing the line of ethical journalism and platforming harmful ideas. Your sunlight is the best disinfectant is ultimate truth. We’re here for you on patreon, hope you can keep expanding

They did the exact same thing to me on my Spring Break 2021 footage from Texas. I took out one interview and re-uploaded and have had no problems since. The interview talked about distrust in the vaccine. I believe If you cut the portion of your interview out of your video it will be able to stay. Its scary the censorship campaign behind the vaccinations, I only have 300 subscribers and this interview I had was 10 minutes into a 15 minute video so the are literally going after everyone, even the small fish

Andrew, please don't let this stop you. What you're doing is way more important than the goofs. I'm sure it feels like you're being kicked while you're already down, but we need this. Stay strong!

Ryan

This is so fucked, I'm so sorry that YouTube is being so shitty. I wholly agree with you that that first conversation you mention (dude in the Ice Cube shirt) is INCREDIBLY important because it is, honestly, great journalism. I'm proud to support you here via Patreon and get uncensored access to your work!

So youtube is hiding behind the "we have to draw the line somewhere" excuse, when in reality that line is pretty fuzzy. Edit: I like the idea of a disclaimer, as others have mentioned. Just something at the bottom of the screen that says "this is in disagreement with WHO/CDC". The algorithms might still block it, but maybe it would pass human review?

You should be able to share and report on people's real opinions. As you stated it was clearly in an enlightening way, exposing reasons for mistrust, and not at all broadcasting misinformation as trustable. I hope you continue to make the content you want and find a new venue to post it.

Funny that the 4th of July and Covid Lockdown Protest vids on AGNB were left alone by youtube...

Glad you guys are fighting this. You are reporters. You aren't trying to tell people to believe on thing or the other, you are simply reporting on what the public believes as firsthand accounts.

jack cooper

whack ass shit. tybg for patreon

Allspice

Also isn’t this censoring the press? If you’re going out and interviewing people it is not the same as making statements. I don’t understand how this violates policy, but I’m sure y’all have the same mentality on it. Either way, keep up the incredible work!!!

Damn dude, censorship a bitch. Time to move on from YouTube

LostIslandofMisfits

This is why I support the Patreon. Because YT is too dumb to realize this stuff. Yeah most your viewers know its misinformation we just wanna laugh.

LD-50 Seattle

Vimeo

Thanks for keeping us updated big dog. You did the best you could. Hopefully this just drives more people to Patreon instead, YouTube effed this one up bad.

Allspice

could you just put a disclaimer at the beginning of the video stating that covid is in fact real and basically just shutting down the disinformation? youtube has gotten ridiculous with this garbage

Speaking about "more for patreon" could you also post the uncensored version of the final edit to patreon along with the multiple parts? I like to watch the final version even after ive seen each part. Keep up the great content!

Can you find another web host for the videos? Fuck YouTube.

Colton Caulkins

More reason for people to come over to this page! But it’s so frustrating and scary the kind of censorship that’s happening. Sorry you guys have to go through this bullshit

Toby Bryan

Sorry this happened! The topic of how/why youtube/other platforms limit content creators is really interesting to me, and I really appreciate your covering it. I would love to hear any updates about this as they develop!

Brian Hope

I honestly think this was a one-off instance, what with all the Covid misinformation and so many people's lives actually being lost because of it. YouTube is just playing it hyper safe for the time being, and I honestly don't know what the right decision is, here. I do strongly agree that there needs to be more public discussion about the idea of medical distrust in the black community, and that has to be verbalized in order to be discussed, but if it's verbalized at all it seems to fall under the umbrella of "misinformation" and get auto-slapped. Then again, it could have literally just been because of the guy saying "it's like the flu" and the other interview would have been totally fine, at least in YouTube's eyes. We really have no way of knowing. 😑

Placenta Juan

It becomes misinformation when you present the interviewee as someone your viewers should listen to, putting a mic up to some drunk guy is not that. But yeah bleeping problematic words seems like a good way to skirt around that, at least you don’t have to bleep swears I guess... hopefully we here at Patreon can get the uncensored version cause I think it’s an important dialogue. It’s super important to be able to demonstrate that not all antivaxxers are crazy soccer mom evangelicals just like not all QAnon’s are Deep South rednecks

Antonio Panzetta

Philip Defranco still gets videos taken down and consistently demonetized for news in his vide. I’m just curious how they would handle it if he bleeped out covid related words and censored the subtitles. I wonder if the algorithm would pick it up.

Brie

I think you navigated the situation as well as you could’ve. As someone who was concerned about Ice Cube Shirt Guy’s statements, I agree and support the final cut as you made it!

We all learned about censorship in dictaters countries ( Ex: North Korea) but now we are living it in youtube, and every year it gets worse and worse

youtube so wack, yall keep doing your thing.

Would a disclaimer at the start of each video help? Probably not if it's a stupid algorithm...

thanks for the update, all my homies who can’t pay for ur patreon were wondering what happened

There is so much worse shit on YouTube with people actually spreading misinformation with intention of people believing it and this is so clearly the opposite of that. The fact that YouTubes censors obvious entertainment dialogue and not actual problematic people like James Charles so immediately is scary. This only hurts the creator who so fucking obviously doesn’t have the same opinion of everyone he interviews, how could these people seriously not realize this?

Damn, That pretty fucked up. Didn't know that YouTube had such a strict censorship

Bruh I'm a literal scientist and have taken COVID as seriously as possible, but this is just fucked up and does not benefit anyone. People need to know what it's like down here in South Florida whether they like it or not. This is why we support the patreon. So tired of public relations managers trying to dictate the information people are allowed to receive. The WHO literally told us masks were useless for the general public last March. They tell you your vaccine is effective after two weeks, but I've read the Moderna studies and it's effective within two days of the second dose. It's no wonder people don't have trust.

Dongler

Sucks that the algorithm is causing a need for censorship and sucks even more that YouTube thinks it knows what is best for what people should see and believe, assuming they're too dumb to think for themselves. At least we get the full scoop on Patreon 🔥

That's unfortunate that there is little more you can do. I love your content and this is the first time using Patreon. My support stays no matter what the outcome. Good luck!

Benjamin Jones

Thanks for all your hard work. That sucks hard that YouTube is being this way. It stifles freedom of the press and true understanding

X Y V

Thanks for the update, always good to hear what's up

What a stupid fucking move on YouTube's part. Should we not be having this dialogue and trying to understand the roots of the problem??

This is censorship. My favourite thing about your BLM video was how it showed so many opinions from individuals without judgement or debate. We should be able to hear every ones voices

Just like I can say I think you're stupid for thinking that!!!

Channel 5

I've considered using alternative platforms like Vimeo or even a step further, using 'free speech' platforms with no censorship it all. Problem is, Vimeo's audience is peanuts compared to YouTube's, and 'free speech' platforms like BitShute are basically riddled with conspiracy theorists and white supremacists who got kicked off of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. It's Important that the coverage we do at events like -- for example, the initial Minneapolis protests -- is easily accessible to all. YouTube is at the center of internet traffic. We have to work around their censorship.

Patrick Lewis

Might be an odd suggestion but I’d look at how Hasan and other live podcasts edit and censor their highlights. It fucking sucks and fuck youtube.

Based on youtube's rules, could Salvia Erik could get his videos taken down for showing other people's antivax comments? I don't really see how this is any different.

Ray

Maybe more "controversial" things can be put on Vimeo.

06baby

Fuck YouTube glad we can show support here

CWTocci

Google is a tyrannical organization, and the censorship of people in media needs to seriously be stopped. We need a new platform (as big as YouTube) for people to post whatever they want so long as it doesn't incite violence, and hate. If people want to hate on a chemical that floats around on doorknobs and respiratory tracts, they have every right to do so. If people want to talk about how COVID-19 is like the flu... let them. People should be smart enough not to acknowledge the views of a drunk child on a beach during Spring Break. It shouldn't be censored as if it was never said.

Consider making this post public so that potential new patreon supporters can see this?

Did they even watch the video?

Wack my guy

So dumb, your hard work is appreciated!

Rose Garcia

Thanks for everything you’re doing Andrew!

Would a warning at the beginning prevent a takedown? Journalistically reporting other people's misinformation =/= spreading misinformation yourself.

That's dumb as hell from youtube

Don’t steer clear! Keep pushing and following your gut man.

Keep pushing we will all support you

AGM-Prism✦

Wow this level of censorship is unreal

Sunlight is the best disinfectant is such a powerful line. Keep fighting the good fight.

Ben Von

If your channel was bigger and had more subscribers like the old one do you think the video would not have been taken down. It's a pretty obvious unspoken rule that the bigger your channel is the the less YouTube wants to censor you. So if you reacquired the millions of subscribers you had on your old channel to the new one do you think YouTube would give you more of a break

put mr youtube on the phone i just want to talk

Consider using Vimeo as from my experience with other Patreon Creators they don't censor you like Youtube does

Do you think it might be worth making a free patreon tier for the uncut YouTube versions of things so people can still watch it? Like that could be a tier of its on for people to support you as a patron even if they can’t pay. Obviously paying supporters would still have the discord and full videos as their perks, but it could be helpful perhaps?

Sean Welty

Regardless of the youtube ban hammer it was a great initial rollout for the first 9 hours traffic wise, don’t let this set you back, just going to have to play youtube’s game while they have their heads up their asses, will be sharing the reupload!

Having this much censorship on what used to be a free platform is truly terrible. Everyone is responsible for their own information and I don't think corporations should be in charge of what people deem acceptable information. If your smart enough you'll check your sources. Fuck YouTube

Fuck youtube. From now on I'm only watching from here. Ty

sjgautier

:(

Josh Woods

Keep it up! YouTube doesn't know what they're missing. It's important to hear people and know where they're coming from.

Yet they still have James Charles child molesting ass up on there smh

They’ll literally put alleged pedophiles like James Charles, and white supremacists like Steven Crowder on their platform but they won’t allow simple stuff like this? Absolutely alarming.

Erik Peterson

YouTube's algorithms are garbage and are heavily biased against creators of all sorts, but especially ones that are heavily found footage or interviews (even Fair Use-type of videos). Vimeo integrates nicely with Patreon, and is much more lenient; you might consider moving your content there instead.

Ron Jones

It's a fine line to walk but I think you're doing a pretty good job. Is there anything the community can do to help?

Riley

Guess youtube didn't hear that covid got canceled

Michael Makogon

I think the covid situation is unique in the way that YouTube cracks down on it. Hopefully, in the future, you won't run into any similar issues.

How to spawn a competitor 101. Days are numbered YouTube.

This absolutely sucks but I’m really glad you’re soldiering through. We will all support you no matter what happens!

YouTube Account

Awesome write up, really appreciate the transparency and insight this offers. Obviously won’t offer the same kind of exposure, but have you considered a different video hosting site, I.e. Vimeo, liveleak, pornhub (lol) ? Requires relying on social media for spread but could be a good alternative if YouTube are going to be a bunch of punk ass bitches about it

Fuck youtube !!!

Dirty Larry

"we believe sunlight is the best disinfectant" So eloquently put. Keep on keeping on.

Joey Landaz

Damn, poor showing for them to give you the runaround. Agree that bleeps is a good idea. Keep it up!

BDC Ky

Fuck youtube corporate bullshit. Keep doing what you’ve been doing and your followers will keep on supporting ya!

Fuck youtube. Have you guys looked into Nebula?

pretty fucked up given how many interviews of anti vaxers cnn puts on youtube, definitely just a corporation allying w a corporation and fucking the smaller guys over

Biden's Diaper

I think its best to upload controversial stuff here & all uncut stuff here. Than use YouTube as a highlight channel with no “controversy” but still plenty of drunk dumb ppl or crack heads. Glad you’re back at it

Joshua Yoes

Algorithmic censorship sucks

Jack Smart

Damn bro sorry

This is so fucked!!!

Love you dude fuck the world