Tag: YouTube

  • YouTube under the gun

    Finnish gunman’s video puts YouTube policies back in spotlight:

    Last year after the shootings at Jokela High School in Finland I called on YouTube to revise its policy about videos such as the ones that Pekka-Eric Auvinen posted prior to the shootings. Of course, the Google-owned company didn’t heed my words. Why would they? I’m just one blogger and they’re a multi-billion dollar corporation. However, that warning has come back to bite them in the ass with Matti Saari and the Kauhajoki School shooting.

    As I mentioned before Saari posted similar videos to the ones Auvinen made prior to his shooting spree. Not to mention all the mutant videos that pay tribute to the Columbine killers. I wonder if it will finally take the deaths of 10 people in Finland to rethink their policies.

    Stop relying on the users to flag inappropriate videos. Considering the stereotypical YouTube user this is kind of the videos they live for.

    Like I’ve said before if Google can censor the entire country of China I would imagine they could do a better job in screening their videos.

  • Study: Number of ‘Misleading’ Anti-Vaccination Videos on YouTube Growing

    Study: Number of ‘Misleading’ Anti-Vaccination Videos on YouTube Growing

    Link

    This is why childhood diseases that, we thought, were wiped out are making a comeback. Some tin foil hatters who buy into the unproven alleged link to autism and various other crackpot theories post this crap on the web and then get other stupid people to buy into it.

  • YouTube rejects mutant monitoring

    YouTube rejects mutant monitoring

    YouTube rejects calls to monitor videos:

    YouTube and their parent company Google are saying they will not monitor their site for videos inciting violence against schools. Much like the video that Pekka-Eric Auvinen posted shortly before killing 8 at Jokela High School in Finland.

    Peter Fleischer, privacy counsel at Google, which bought YouTube last year, said the website was not considering passing more information to the police to avert such events. “Logistically we couldn’t do pre-screening,” he said. “We don’t want to become censors of the web.”

    I fail to see how that would be any different from pulling copyrighted material off their site. They don’t seem to have an issue with that.

    Mr Fleischer said privacy was of paramount importance but admitted there was no blanket ban on passing on information. “If it were child pornography then we would inform the authorities immediately. In the case of somebody doing a video that looks something like hate speech, however, we would remove the account. In most of these cases we don’t report it.”

    Except they don’t suspend the accounts. The accounts for Auvinen and Dillon Cossey were still active after their respective incidents occurred. Cossey’s was even up for weeks after his arrest.

    As long as YouTube allows these hate-filled mutants to post video tributes to mass murderers, they’ll just continue to be the whipping boy whenever one of these events happens.

  • Mutant MySpace connection

    Mutant MySpace connection

    The cyber school for killers:

    According to the article, not only were Dillon Cossey and Pekka-Eric Auvinen YouTube buddies, but it seems they belonged to the same pro-Columbine groups on MySpace.

    Police do not believe this to have been a coincidence. The two youths are thought to have made contact over two MySpace groups, “RIP Eric and Dylan” — a reference to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who killed 12 schoolmates at Columbine — and “Natural Selection”.

    And people wonder why I think that sites like MySpace and YouTube need to shut down what basically amounts to hate groups.

    But like I’ve said before, MySpace and YouTube wouldn’t have to if parents just paid better attention to their kids.

    Speaking of parents…

    Auvinen’s parents are regarded as somewhat bohemian in the small dormitory township of Jokela. His father plays part-time in a jazz band and composes his own music; Auvinen’s mother is an activist for the Greens. They are regarded as stalwart members of the community and neighbours describe them as a “normal family”.

    I’ll let you draw your own conclusions on that one.

  • Should YouTube muzzle the mutants?

    Should YouTube muzzle the mutants?

    Should YouTube play the censor and sentinel?:

    In the wake of the Jokela High School shooting in Finland, News.com has written this article asking if YouTube should censor the parent neglected little balls of hate like Pekka-Eric Auvinen. Before I educate people on the definition of censorship, my answer is a resounding yes.

    First of all, if YouTube decides to pull any video for whatever reason, that’s not censorship. Censorship, in the U.S. at least, can only come from the government. When YouTube does it, which last time I checked they were not a branch of the government, it’s called enforcing their Terms of Service.

    Here are all the reasons a YouTube video can be pulled…

    1. Graphic sexual activity
    “Graphic sexual activity” describes content which contains actual visible or implied sex acts.

    2. Nudity
    “Nudity” refers to exposed or see-through coverage of areas typically covered by a bathing suit or underwear. Sometimes nudity is allowed on YouTube, depending on the context.

    3. Suggestive, but without nudity
    “Suggestive” content refers to materials with sexual themes that do not necessarily depict sexual activity or nudity. Sexually suggestive content may not be suitable for all audiences and may include fetish-related content.

    4. Shocking or disgusting content
    “Shocking or disgusting content” refers to disturbing imagery, such as graphic depictions of violence, accidents or gore, which lack an appropriate context.

    5. Promotes hatred or violence against a protected group
    Hate speech is content that promotes or encourages hatred or violence toward a group based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, and sexual orientation/gender identity.

    6. Harmful dangerous acts
    “Harmful dangerous acts” may include content which is depicts behavior likely to cause serious injury or death to a third party.

    7. Reveals personally identifying information
    This refers to revealing information that identifies another person against their wishes, such as home address, telephone number, social security number or credit card number.

    I think that the videos that Auvinen and his ilk make fall under several of those guidelines. However, the problem is that YouTube, which is owned by Google by the way, really only wants to police the site for copyrighted content. What they rely on is for users to flag the videos for any inappropriate content. That’s what I like to call letting the inmates run the asylum. Craigslist has a similar policy with its “erotic services” section. The problem is similar as well. People going to YouTube to see funny videos aren’t venturing into the depths where the mutants and their killer tribute videos lurk, and the ones that do aren’t going to flag the videos because that’s what they like.

    However, as much as I wish YouTube would shut down these mutants, it really comes down to parenting. Where are these kids’ parents when they’re making these hate-filled videos? Probably happy that their precious little snowflakes are expressing themselves rather than disciplining them for being the dumbasses that they are.

  • MutantTube

    MutantTube

    Finnish killer subscribed to jailed US youth’s webpage:

    Well, well, well. It seems that mutant loser and coward Pekka-Eric Auvinen was YouTube buddies with another mutant loser mentioned in these pages, Dillon Cosey. Cossey was the homeschooled kid who was arrested for plotting an attack against Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School outside of Philly.

    Cossey’s YouTube page is still standing in all its mutant “glory” while Auvinen’s was pulled. I guess it takes a mass murder for YouTube to pull someone’s killer worshiping videos.

    YouTuber Warned of Finnish Gunman in June, But No One Listened:

    In other Jokela related YouTube news, a YouTuber by the handle of TheAmazingAtheist was concerned about Auvinen’s and other YouTube profiles.

    But months before the fateful video was posted, one prolific YouTube user known as TheAmazingAtheist called for the police to investigate Auvinen and others who had been posting videos glorifying the Columbine shooters and Timothy McVeigh, saying they were showing warning signs of being more than simply infatuated or interested in violence.

    While his intentions were good, my question is, did he actually contact authorities or someone at YouTube or did he just complain about it on YouTube?

    First, it was AOL, then LiveJournal, then MySpace. Now YouTube is the prominent breeding ground for mutants.

  • Update from Finland

    Update from Finland

    7 die in ‘YouTube plan’ shooting:

    Now reports are coming in that there are seven dead from the school shooting in Finland at the Jokela School Centre.

    There was also a video on his YouTube profile entitled “Jokela High School Massacre – 11/7/2007.” that escaped my notice and now the YouTube profile has been pulled.

    And the gunman has been identified as Pekka-Eric Auvinen.

    Seven dead in school shooting ‘predicted’ in YouTube video:

    One of his victims was the school principal, but it is not known if the principal has survived or not.

    Thanks to ZakkVanDime for that link.

  • Alvaro Castillo’s videos

    Alvaro Castillo’s videos

    Here are the videos that Alvaro Castillo sent to a local paper.

    If YouTube pulls them, (Which they did) they can also be found here.