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YouTube pulled the plug on six far-right channels as online social media platforms face increasing pressure to crack down on hateful rhetoric (AFP Photo\/Robyn Beck)<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
AFP via YAHOO! News<\/p>\n
San Francisco (AFP) – YouTube on Monday shut down six far-right channels for violating rules against “supremacist” content, booting videos by David Duke, Stefan Molyneux and Richard Spencer.<\/p>\n
The video sharing platform pulled the plug on the channels as online social media platforms face increasing pressure to crack down on hateful rhetoric.<\/p>\n
“We have strict policies prohibiting hate speech on YouTube, and terminate any channel that repeatedly or egregiously violates those policies,” YouTube said in response to an AFP inquiry about the move.<\/p>\n
Since updating guidelines a year ago to better address supremacist content, YouTube saw a fivefold spike in video removals and has terminated more than 25,000 channels for violating hate speech policies, the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n
YouTube said that the channels removed Monday included Duke, Molyneux, Spencer and American Renaissance.<\/p>\n
All the terminated channels broke YouTube rules by alleging that members of protected groups were innately inferior to others, according to the Google-owned video platform.<\/p>\n
Some of the nixed channels also violated rules against linking YouTube videos to hateful content hosted elsewhere on the internet, the company said.<\/p>\n
Spencer confirmed the suspension of his account in a tweet that included a screen-capture of a message from YouTube citing policies against glorifying or inciting violence against a person or group.<\/p>\n
In a video posted on Twitter, Molyneux said his offerings on YouTube were erased, contending that the action was unwarranted.<\/p>\n
“The accusation is the usual one that I am fomenting violence and hatred and so on, which is not true at all,” Molyneux said in the video.<\/p>\n
“It is a huge blow.”<\/p>\n
The YouTube removals came as Reddit yanked a forum used by President Donald Trump supporters as part of a crackdown on hateful posts at the popular online bulletin board, and the game streaming platform Twitch briefly suspended the president.<\/p>\n
“r\/The_Donald” was among some 2,000 forums or “subreddits” banned as part of a tightening of rules at the news-focused social website, according to Reddit.<\/p>\n
The longtime pro-Trump subreddit “has consistently hosted and upvoted more rule-breaking content than average, antagonized us and other communities, and its (moderators) have refused to meet our most basic expectations,” Reddit said.<\/p>\n
Reddit’s new content policy specifically bans promoting hate based on identity or vulnerability, and calls for posts to be personal and authentic to prevent spam.<\/p>\n
“All communities on Reddit must abide by our content policy in good faith,” Reddit said.<\/p>\n
“We banned r\/The_Donald because it has not done so, despite every opportunity.”<\/p>\n
Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, said Trump’s channel was suspended over rules violations and that the offending content was removed.<\/p>\n
“Hateful conduct is not allowed on Twitch,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
“We do not make exceptions for political or newsworthy content, and will take action on content reported to us that violates our rules.”<\/p>\n
Trump has complained that Silicon Valley platforms are biased against conservatives, despite his own large social media following.<\/p>\n