541 Comments

I’ve once again sent complaints up the Google/YouTube flagpole. Perhaps Racket readers are tired of digital censorship tales. If so, I understand, I do.

--------------

Hell no we aren't tired of them! This sort of censorship/debanking is the #1 threat to our way of life -- we should ALL be screaming about it every chance we get, because we KNOW that it won't just stop at the 'bad' people. (This article is proof!!!)

Expand full comment
Aug 29Liked by Matt Orfalea

Please post these videos on Rumble!!!!

Expand full comment

Allowing Big Tech to swallow whole our society, culture, discourse, democracy, our souls and brains (and, even worse, become the real parents and friends to our children), has been a total humanitarian disaster and is one of the major causes of American immiseration and derangement. We have abdicated independent thought and surrendered human connection to the cruel and greedy tyrant His Majesty the Algorithm, which would be bad no matter what, but is horrific considering the algorithms have been designed to addle us with fear, panic and outrage and get us all to hate each other.

The road back to sanity, comity and a future of human flourishing (and the off-ramp to the globalist's Brave New World) demands that the Big Tech companies be broken up and that their owners be heavily taxed, so as to put an end to their unearned social dominance.

Bring back antitrust! Down with digital tyranny!

Expand full comment

For the record, I'm not tired of digital censorship tales, and on the contrary really appreciate all your hard work on this. It is still underreported in my opinion--or perhaps it's reported but we can't find it? Either way, more please.

Expand full comment

Dollars to donuts that this is at the behest of the government or government funded agencies.

Expand full comment

Here’s what YouTube doesn’t understand. The “legacy media” that news consumers are fleeing from used to be new media too. They lost their credibility by going down a road YouTube is currently starting down. If YouTube wants to be end up where CNN is today, hemorrhaging viewers and unable to right the ship, they should keep doing what they’re doing.

Expand full comment
author
Sep 1·edited Sep 1Author

TIMELINE FOR CLARITY

July '21: Whole channel demonetized over "violent criminal organization" policy. After much outcry on Twitter, YouTube admitted error. (No relation to "Rigged Elections" video)

https://www.racket.news/p/meet-the-censored-matt-orfalea

Nov '22: "Rigged Elections" video is ***DELETED*** (not just demonetized) for allegedly violating YT's "Elections Misinformation" policy.

https://www.racket.news/p/election-denial-for-me-but-not-for

June '23: YT says they will no longer delete videos with content questioning election results. I re-upload the "Rigged Elections" video. It's demonetized, I appeal successfully, YT emails me to say it is now monetized and suitable for all advertisers.

https://censorednews.substack.com/p/did-youtube-end-its-elections-misinformation

August '23: By chance I see YT secretly demonetized the "Rigged Elections" video (with no notification) due to alleged violation of its "Harmful or Dangerous Acts" policy. In the past (for ex, when my channel was demonetized) I always received notifications from YT about it BUT I received no notification about the this.

https://censorednews.substack.com/p/youtube-secretly-labeled-my-video

Expand full comment

I quit Google and YouTube a year ago for the first episode with this video.

I'm life has improved tremendously since.

I highly recommend that everyone who can boycott google/YouTube.

Fuck em...

Expand full comment

Matt, We are NOT tired of these censorship posts. This may be the #1 problem for us and the country for the foreseeable future. Please keep it up. We will all support you as best we can.

Expand full comment

It's now clear that the powers that be, the cultural apparatus, establishment, deep state whatever you want to call it just wants to destroy its opposition. It's hard to admit to yourself that someone has declared you an enemy when you haven't done anything wrong, but there it is.

Expand full comment

It seems to me that these tech companies are in violation of their behavior with respect to their FCC Section 230 protections as "platforms". They are operating as publishers and thus should be subject to the same liabilities of all publishers for the content they allow or filter.

I have written to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Senate Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission to complain about these abuses, and the need for new penalties for any platform company negatively impacting public 1A rights... including their exclusion from Section 230 protections if they continue to act as publishers and not platforms.

This crap is not gonna' stop by just complaining about it. I am generally not a fan of government intrusion into the business practices of corporations, but these are businesses that have become the dominate communications platforms for society. They are no different today than has been for example the telephone service companies. What if your telephone services started listening to your conversations and banning you from access to the services because some human operator objected to what you were saying on the phone? YouTube cannot both have 90% of the market share for Internet video content delivery and then decide what it will allow or not except for legal limitations for obscenity, etc., that the FCC applies to network TV. It is either a publisher or a platform. Pick one.

Expand full comment
Aug 29Liked by Matt Orfalea

Matt, I'm not the least bit tired of "digital censorship tales." It is among your most important work, maybe the most important. Keep on.

Expand full comment

Matt...this problem is becoming worse and now our good buddy Elon has invited a WEF shill to run Twitter and outlook is not good there either, despite the promising start. It is becoming increasingly difficult to read and share valuable information, to have unfettered conversations and enjoy critical thinking. Thanks for all you do....keep fighting the good fight!

Expand full comment

I would hope that Racket readers never tire of digital censorship tales, for as long as they occur. The democrat party seems to love throwing around the phrase "a threat to our democracy", and nothing is a bigger threat than censorship.

Expand full comment

All I can say is welcome to “fascist” America:

“Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power”

Benito Mussolini

See any similarities playing out, in real time, here? Hmmm 🤔

Expand full comment

Couple this with Grayzone's recent GoFundMe disaster, it seems the beast will not be satisfied until all of us become drooling subhumans eagerly snarfing up the latest CIA approved mindless entertainment or fascist "news" narratives.

Perhaps it's time we developed a new Internet we will term "Intervus", along the lines of Festivus (for the rest of us) in which we will celebrate the airing of grievances, feats of strength, and a Intervus miracle during which we will blink into an alternate reality bereft of all Corporations.

Of course, the real problem is that content creators and providers are now embroiled in a Catch-22, in which the beast provides food on the table, but demands compliance. I hate to say it, but we can't have it both ways. If you want to play, then it's by the golden rule.

I don't know what the answer is other than there are always choices. We may not like the choices, but they are ours to make.

Expand full comment