Thulean Archives

I see a lot of criticism of YouTube here on YouTube, by people who claim they censor, that they close channels and that they are behaving in a bad way, you could say. Are they correct? Let's find out. Some days ago, I had one of my videos removed by YouTube, because of a copyright claim by a company, claiming, rightfully, that I had used one of their images. I had used that image, thinking it was not copyrighted, the image had no logo on it, no text or anything, and I found it from some Wiccan website, and I thought that I^[1] could use it, and I was wrong. The Wiccan website had taken their photo, removed the logo and so forth. Of course, I didn't know that the image was copyrighted, and I would have preferred to have the company email me about it and tell me that, sorry Varg, you are using our image, please remove your video. And of course I would have done so, I would have replaced the image with something else, it was used for 4 seconds of the video, it was not important whatsoever, and I would have uploaded the video again, like I did. And instead they went to YouTube and asked YouTube to remove my video, like that. And YouTube did. YouTube was not to blame for that. I was to blame for that. I had not done what I should have and checked thoroughly whether or not the image was copyrighted. And so the responsibility is mine, it's my fault, and not the fault of YouTube. When I see other channels removed, it's because they break the laws of the country they live^[2] in, and YouTube has to relate to that. If you want to see videos about the protocols or revisionist videos, you can find them on YouTube, they are not being removed, because they are uploaded in a country where they are allowed to upload such videos, where they have freedom of speech. If you live in a country where you are not allowed to even see such videos, then YouTube has to abide by the law and block you from seeing it. It's not the fault of YouTube, it's the fault of the country you live in. I am pretty convinced that YouTube was created by individuals who believe strongly in the freedom of speech, otherwise they would not have allowed people to upload whatever is^[3] legal to upload in the country where you upload the video. That's a very complex sentence, I know. So I believe, now more than ever, that YouTube is a platform for freedom of speech, and the only limits they have to put on us, are the limits that the laws put on them.^[4]

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1. No, I DON'T normally visit Wiccan websites.
2. Other videos or channels, that is.
3. I bet they were HOMESCHOOLED too, or went to Montessori schools.
4. And yes, tabletop RPGs ROCK!