YouTube censoring comments for profanity.

About 3 hours ago I noticed that YouTube had an abundance of ****'s on the comments. I tried to post some of the languages more clever words and saw that they were replaced by asterisks as well. As of posting this I have not found anything on either YouTube or major media sites regarding the change, but I assume it will cause quite a storm.

Once site on Digg talking of it

Proof I guess is not really needed here via link as we all know www.youtube.com

I do see this as another step towards the location we all go towards for info being turned into a Springer and Infomercial hell.


[edit on 8-7-2009 by remotemedic]

reply to post by remotemedic


I have noticed many people use the comment section as a way of spouting off racial slurs. I have thought for a long time that someone needs to reign the comments in a little.

yeah i just saw this myself, im not too surprised that theyre doing this. youtube is going downhill FAST

i think censoring in general is bad. plus every now and then "moron" doesnt seem like it fits as well as other words do.



[edit on 8-7-2009 by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest]

reply to post by jd140


Let people say what they bloody well want, you bunch of fascist pigs.

[edit on 8-7-2009 by PrisonerOfSociety]

Well YouTube is a private company. There IS an age registration ability though.

I would think that in order to view the comments that someone posted unedited and in their entirety you would simply say "I am over 18 years of age and am a consenting adult and can handle Big Boy and Big Girl language".

Then again look at ATS. Big Boy and Big Girl language does not fly here. Welcome to First Amendment Hell ATS style.

Not even an option to sign in as an adult to take responsibility for reading a "cuss" word.

Civilized does not equal censored.

But it is again owed by someone who runs this website as a business. Even if it does not rake in money it has an advertisement base to keep the site running or for profit. It is owned by someone. That person has a lawyer who advises them on issues.

Maybe CUSS words go against the owners religious beliefs? Maybe cuss words go against better ad revenue?

There is ALWAYS a reason.

But CERTAINLY not a reason that Mark Twain would consider "Reasonable".

Maybe the owners of ATS and YouTube should pick up a copy of Huck Finn.

Click here for more information.

There's an option on the comments that you can click that will allow or prevent profanity. It's more of a filter than any censorship.

If I go to a video that someones post, I did not ask to objected to over the top line crossing vulgar, homophobic, racist comments.
Neither did the person posting the video, as youtube is a large community of all ages it should not be seen as a big deal that they want to stop those actions and protect their users from being subjected to this type of behavior.

The only people I see having a problem with this are 14 year old boys.

Is ATS apart of the movement of regulation and restriction of freedom of speech as there is no cursing or vulgar language allowed?

And if you say yes, why are you here?

If your freedom of speech includes excessive cursing and hateful words than it's probably not reaching a respectable, adult mind frame anyway.

Yes there is a restriction and will be a bigger restriction of freedom of speech on the internet someday, but is this one of those acts?
NO.

reply to post by pop_science


"respectable, adult mind frame"

=

"CENSORSHIP"


Thanks for informing me. I was unaware.

does ATS automatically censor? or do your swear words show up but get adjusted by mods and stuff?

reply to post by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest


They show up and are editted later by mods, don't take this as a free reign thing though.

I noticed that too, I just figured people got polite.... I was wrong

I have no issue with the policy that ATS has where it is a posted guideline, but what YouTube did falls against their curtain. If a site that promotes everything and anything so long as it is not porn, snuff or illicit they let it go. To censor the comments is to take away the freedom of expression that people have grown to love.

Click here for more information.

reply to post by remotemedic


I just count the asterisks and open up my profanity dictionary then guess the best profane word anyways!

reply to post by Republican08



alright thanks. i was wondering how it worked here.
i wasnt sure if people just didnt swear or what.

i wont take this as free reign, just curious

reply to post by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest


Just don't post anything that is actually thought-provoking or unusual, and you won't get any trouble from the mods.

The Major is always amused when they mistake profanity for the articulate conveyance of thoughts and ideas. The Major has found that most often the recruits fail to produce anything thought provoking or of sufficient humor to engage the Major's government issued funny bone. The Major suggests sticking with the Queen's English that you would use in front of your mother and leave the proper implementation of salty language to the professionals.

Dismissed.

I choose not to be offended by profane or vulgar words. I typically laugh at them, and I love seeing reality.

In fact, there is not a word that offends me.

But I am offended by the censorship of those words.

If I were a politician, I would openly cuss on the pulpit, simply because I believe that being Real will get more votes than being Fake.

I did not say it would get all the votes, but I would win more than the guy who is afraid of a silly word.

With the way this country is, you could win an election purely by saying a few cuss words. Think of the press you would get. Think of the controversy. Think of how many people cuss in their daily lives and would realize the cussing politician was truthful and honest.

It would be a landslide victory.

I am probably the only person with the guts to even try it. I highly doubt anyone would even test the water on that, but I know I would, I need the press

reply to post by muzzleflash


Bravo. A few F bombs in a speech and your getting the kids on your side. Use some internet slang and you get the WoW crowd and some valley girls! Trucker slang, blue collar, redneck... the list is endless. You could solidify a seat in office on a platform of vulgar language alone.

I have comments and such on my websites, and we personally moderate every single comment that is posted before they ever show up(forums are an obvious exception). Not even filters, we will straight up edit or just delete your comment completely.

Why? Because I want to kill peoples "free speech"? No. Because I'm offended, or because anyone at my company is offended? No.

It's because it's a business, and we don't want that crap all over our websites. We have no interest in having such terms being associated with our site. It's a good way to have a site blocked by nanny programs, and it's a turn off for advertisers and potential partners.

As well, if you ever have to watch the comments people make, you start to notice that it's actually pretty dang rare they are accompanied by anything which can be considered useful or intelligent.

You guys are going on and on about freedom, but what about the freedoms of YouTube?

When you make a website, and Youtube or someone else comes along and wants to censor those words, wake me up and I'll come argue in your favor.