We Have Ways of Making You Not Talk

Germans went to the polls today to vote in a general election. YouTube announced in advance that it would be censoring any videos that depart from the official government line on the election results, including any speculation on what might have influenced the vote.

Many thanks to Hellequin GB for translating this article from Boris Reitschuster’s website:

YouTube announces censorship after the federal election

Google subsidiary continues to tighten thumbscrews

The video platform company YouTube, which belongs to the Google Group, has announced that it will adopt strict censorship after the general election on Sunday. Here is the wording of the explanation from YouTube, which many users have received — myself included:

Hello Boris Reitschuster,

We’ll also give you some up-to-date advice on YouTube’s guidelines, which deal with misinformation about elections. We will apply our guidelines on the legality of elections and election results to misinformation about the outcome of the federal election as soon as the final results have been confirmed by the federal returning officer.

Important information related to the Legality of Elections and Election Results Policy:

  • Content that falsely claims that the outcome of the Bundestag election in Germany was influenced will be removed from YouTube. This applies to misinformation about the outcome of the Bundestag election, the formation of the new government or the election and appointment of the next Federal Chancellor.
  • YouTube videos that refer to content with incorrect information about the election result outside of YouTube (e.g. on an external video platform) will also be removed.
  • These guidelines only apply to videos uploaded to YouTube on or after the day on which the Federal Returning Officer confirms the final result.
  • In order for creators to prepare for the change, videos that violate this policy will be removed within 30 days of the day the results are confirmed, but the associated channel will not receive a warning.

For more information about the Election Misinformation Policy, see this article in YouTube Help: Elections Misinformation Policy: YouTube Community Guidelines

That is remarkable and a new form of censorship. It weighs particularly heavily because, according to German jurisprudence, as a de facto monopoly, YouTube is bound to protect basic rights and is not allowed to censor freely based on a domiciliary right.

In the past, many elections in Germany resulted in mistakes and mishaps — as, ironically enough, you can find out from Google, of all places, which also includes YouTube. The guidelines are formulated very ambiguously: Does the description “widespread” only refer to cases of fraud, or also to errors and glitches?

Who decides whether claims about errors and glitches are “false” or not? Does YouTube have an instance of truth here? Tax-subsidized so-called “fact checkers”?

Where does “misinformation about the formation of the new government” begin?

And that the Federal Chancellor is “appointed”, as YouTube writes, is formally correct. In fact, an appointment is made by the Federal President — but only after the election by the Bundestag. And that is the only thing that matters. If YouTube restricts itself to the formal process of appointment, it sounds a bit like a lack of political education.

How does the staggering come about? At one point it is said that the new guideline only applies to videos on the first two days. Then there is talk of 30 days.

But it is part of censorship that its rules have to be vague.

Why is YouTube so nervous? Or, to be more precise, why are the forces to which YouTube is obedient (or not, rather, but real) so nervous? Politicians have repeatedly put pressure on social media to restrict freedom of expression. In particular through the “Network Enforcement Act”. Critics speak of a dangerous “deal”: Politicians accept the dubious monopoly position of the Internet giants, and in return for politics they would censor: Freedom of expression as a central element of the Basic Law is thus strangled via “outsourcing”.

Question after question.

See also PolitikStube: Sounds like nervousness? YouTube announces censorship AFTER the BTW [Bundestags Wahl, general election]

10 thoughts on “We Have Ways of Making You Not Talk

  1. Do you know the “shift the blame” game?

    For example, the green fanatics in Czech Republic would like to give devastating fines to the criminals who step out of the line and pick blueberries in an area designated “national park” or something, while at the same time they let heavy harvestors to go to the same place, where people are given fines for picking blueberries, and harvest some of that great old wood, destroying everything in its path…

    …and that’s how they roll I am afraid.

    Youtube and Facebook fighting misinformation by deleting videos from small guys is like going after the blueberry pickers – which is very funny act from a global leader in mass population AI nudging into thinking the correct think.

  2. Things are very complicated

    just electing somebody is not democracy or goal in itself. Democracy and elections and selecting somebody was designed to elect the best person with honor decency truthfulness conscientious Noble ready to sacrifice himself for his own citizens selfless not selfish.

    The truth is that the one who is elected is usually the one that resonates with the electorate

    that is to say the one similar to themselves superficial smooth with a thatch of hair , silly makes jokes superficial naive and the most important feature to help him be elected over the last 40 years is that he must be a slave to Muslims and Islam against white people against his own country .

    from time to time he must give signals that he promotes Islam builds mosques and says something against Christianity and Israel to prove to Muslims that he or she loves Islam and Muslims. Selection guaranteed if he she is an Islam water carrier. Abject low slave

    Police have no choice but to pamper Muslims or hey will be fired

    Ministers are selected for purpose to serve Islam and Islamic whims
    A professor is appointed if he she advocates Islam and must show enmity to Israel to be appointed.

    Islam in the West can fire or hire. It is the Zeus that encompasses every aspect of life

    A few more years probably four more years Western politicians will be proud to declare themselves Muhammad Smith Cindy Ahmed. Fatima Sheila

    Khadijah Kensington. They will demand to declare Friday a national holiday

    No faith except Islam , no honor. no morals no decency no character no resistance no principles no values in this case so easy to become manure

    • You will have war far sooner than you could have ever possibly imagined, democracy is dead and soon the militarist of western Europe will take over with an iron fist for the feckless, weak, corrupt and stupid got us to this point. If you thought Hitler, Franco or a Pinochet were brutal? You ain’t seen nothing yet, but all of you in Europe will see it soon. So embrace the suck.

  3. Luckily there’s still pi-news.net .

    Otherwise, whether there’s any allegations on Youtube or not, surprised that Germany has succumbed to postal voting…

    Even in the best-case scenario, assuming no “dead voters”, no multiple voters and no “ballot harvesting”, surely postal voting makes it likely that someone will see your ballot (perhaps, a dominant member of your family, or someone in your “community) – and therefore invalidates the very principle of a secret ballot?

    And the country in question already has a history of a certain authoritarian leader going so far, as to station his thugs outside polling stations, to intimidate voters… Imagine how much fun he would have had, with postal voting?!

  4. The 3 most likely coalition partners… (Or – how long before we actually miss Angela Merkel?!)

    “The Social Democrats consider migration an enrichment that advances Germany. Migration policy is a task that should be tackled at the European level. They call for a humanitarian EU asylum system and solidarity with refugees and migrants.

    The Greens advocate a “diverse immigration society” (“vielfältige Einwanderungsgesellschaft”). They want to facilitate naturalization and create new pathways for labor and educational migration.

    The Liberals consider Germany a country of immigration, which requires clear rules, and see migration as an opportunity. The basic right to asylum for politically persecuted persons, including for religious reasons and sexual identity, is inviolable.”

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/35078/german-election-how-do-political-parties-view-migrants-issues

    • Very good article -green infield, in 4 years Germany will be history, German abolished them self’s big time.gute nach Deutschland

    • The left has destroyed Germany, and now with the marxist in charge, they will run it into the ground to the point where the military will take over, then the Great Purge will commence with a vengeance.

  5. With all of the new social media platforms out there for video, I am shocked that people are still using Google Tube and putting up with the censorship.

    Rumble seems to have become the place to post every kind of political video and it is gaining more users daily. From what I know, there is zero censorship.

    Also, Gab is very user friendly and no censorship there either.

    Look, as a business owner I fully understand that it is very difficult to just pack up and move to a new location, especially if you’ve been there for years.

    In this case, we have no choice. The landlord has raised the rent too many times and is making our business and our lives impossible. Time to move to a better location.

    • Rumble, Gab etc are all slow to load. Much slower than youtube. Meaning less users stay to watch the whole video.

      Besides, they have hardly any users, so less potential for others to see the video. And if you never heard of it, are you really likely to click on “rumble.com”, certain that it’s not a phishing scam?

      Meanwhile, there’s still a lot of good eggs on youtube – like Mark Dice, Paul Joseph Watson, Tim Pool etc. And they’re get lots of views, simply by virtue of being on youtube.

  6. Rumble, Gab etc are all slow to load. Much slower than youtube. Meaning less users stay to watch the whole video.

    Besides, they have hardly any users, so less potential for others to see the video. And if you never heard of it, are you really likely to click on “rumble.com”, certain that it’s not a phishing scam?

    Meanwhile, there’s still a lot of good eggs on youtube – like Mark Dice, Paul Joseph Watson, Tim Pool etc. And they’re get lots of views, simply by virtue of being on youtube.

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