A few months ago, right wing propaganda YouTube channel Prager”U” released a view titled “Who Will Google Silence Next?” Long story short, the video makes the argument that having several of their videos filtered on Restricted Mode (which is off by default, and exists so that parents can restrict the type of content their children can watch) sets some sort of Orwellian precedent. It’s likely you’ve never even heard of Restricted mode. That’s because, aside from being off by default, it’s almost impossible to find (and therefore, to turn on).
Not surprisingly, the video doesn’t give you examples of the videos that are being actually being filtered in restricted move. Rather, they show examples of their more innocent videos and imply that all of their videos are similarly innocuous. Here are some titles and descriptions of videos that aren’t being shown to children whose parents have decided to only allow them to browse in restrictive mode:
The Most Important Question About Abortion
Is abortion right, or is it wrong? It’s the big question that’s lost in a societal debate that’s mostly focused on legality. But, really, whether it’s right or wrong is the most important question …
Will Witt Talks with Kyle Kashuv
Will Witt sits down today with Kyle Kashuv, Parkland shooting survivor, to talk about what happened that day, gun control and his fellow classmate David Hogg.
Blacks in Power Don’t Empower Blacks
Between 1970 and 2012, the number of black elected officials rose from fewer than 1,500 to more than 10,000. How has this affected the black community? Jason Riley of The Manhattan Institute answer…
Is Fascism Right Or Left?
Every Republican president since the 1970s has been called a fascist. Ironic, no? After all, fascism has its roots in the left. Dinesh D’Souza, author of The Big Lie, explains. Donate today to Prag…
Gender Identity: Why All the Confusion?
Are male and female one and the same? Or are there real male-female differences rooted in biology? Ashley McGuire, author of “Sex Scandal: The Drive to Abolish Male and Female,” explains. Donate to…
Does Israel Discriminate Against Arabs?
Does Israel discriminate against Arabs? Is it today’s version of apartheid South Africa? Olga Meshoe, herself a South African whose family experienced apartheid, settles the question once and for a…
Also, many of Dennis Prager’s “Fireside chats” seem to be filtered. It’s not difficult to imagine the topics he covers being considered not safe for children.
The PragerU video shows a screenshot of an email from Google explaining that the restricted videos are deemed inappropriate for children, and suggests they visit their community guidelines, which, as you can see, are pretty straightforward:
Your content & Restricted Mode
What does Restricted Mode do?
Restricted Mode was created to provide viewers who wanted to better control the content they see on YouTube with an option to choose an intentionally limited YouTube experience.
Viewers can choose to turn Restricted Mode on for their personal accounts. It may also be turned on for computers in libraries, schools, and other public institutions by the institution’s system administrator. Viewers who turn on Restricted Mode cannot see comments on videos.
Will my content show if my viewers have Restricted Mode turned on?
Videos containing potentially mature content will not be shown to viewers who have Restricted Mode turned on.
Drugs and alcohol: Talking about drug use or abuse, or drinking alcohol in videos.
Sexual situations: Overly detailed conversations about or depictions of sex or sexual activity. Some educational, straightforward content about sexual education, affection, or identity may be included in Restricted Mode, as well as kissing or affection that’s not overly sexualized or the focal point of the video.
Violence: Graphic descriptions of violence, violent acts, natural disasters and tragedies, or even violence in the news.
Mature subjects: Videos that cover specific details about events related to terrorism, war, crime, and political conflicts that resulted in death or serious injury, even if no graphic imagery is shown.
Profane and mature language: Inappropriate language, including profanity.
Incendiary and demeaning content: Video content that is gratuitously incendiary, inflammatory, or demeaning towards an individual or group.
We know there is a risk that some important content could be lost if we were to apply these rules without context. We value stories where individuals discuss their personal experiences and share their emotions. Sharing stories about facing discrimination, opening up about your sexuality, and confronting and overcoming discrimination is what makes YouTube great, and we will work to ensure those stories are included in Restricted Mode. But just a reminder, to be included, your content must follow the guidelines above!
And so there it is. PragerU is now suing Google for following their own community guidelines regarding not showing child-inappropriate videos in restricted mode.
Dennis Prager Claims YouTube is censoring conservative content
Lastly, Prager is complaining that this is some sort of anti-Conservative conspiracy. I guess he doesn’t realize what Left wing YouTubers are getting hit with…
