More cheating at Youtube

Jason Thibeault

Creationists surely do love to fight dirty on Youtube, whether it’s by using vote-bots to skew legitimate metrics of brainshare, or abusing them some DMCA. The last time I reported on this, it was VenomFangX being a fucking douchebag and filing false DMCA claims to squelch an opposing viewpoint. This time, it’s the Creationist Discovery Institute, taking aim at DonExodus2 for daring to debunk Casey Luskin’s most recent appearance on Faux News. Please note: the Creation Discovery Institute, a wholly owned subsidiary of Casey Luskin Inc., doesn’t even own any of this material, and any use falls under the Criticism clause to begin with so even if Fox News filed the claim it would still fail.

Make no mistake: THIS IS WHY WE ARE UNCIVIL. Rather than letting the marketplace of ideas have a fair shake at both sides of the argument, they put their thumb on the scales by temporarily censoring the other side. Luckily they forgot about the Streissand Effect: the internet views censorship as damage and routes around it, e.g. by reuploading the video over and over and over again, on multiple mirrors and through multiple news channels. The more you try to censor something, the more attention you call to it, quickly turning an otherwise unknown event into a full-blown internet meme. If you want something to go away quietly, you ignore it — because no matter how many hits it gets, no matter how viral it goes, squelching it will give it more brainshare. Let it run its course and deal with the damage afterward, that’s your only choice.

Here’s a re-upload of the original video that freaked out the Creation Discovery Institute assholes (dammit, I keep doing that!). I can see why they’d want to shut down any discussion on this subject — DonExodus dissects the whole segment with surgical precision.

And DonExodus2’s impassioned plea to uncensor this video by spreading the word. I’m doing my part, friend!

I have to contend Youtube has some part in this, in that they need to damn well shore up their takedown process. They know people are abusing this, and by doing nothing about the abuse they are complicit.

Hat tip to Rebecca at Skepchick.

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More cheating at Youtube

About the author

Hi! I'm a tech guy, skeptic, feminist, gamer and atheist, and love OSS and science of all stripes. I enjoy a good bit of whargarbl now and again, and will occasionally even seek it out. I am also apparently responsible for the death of common sense on the internet. My bad.

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2 thoughts on “More cheating at Youtube”

  1. Dan J
    1

    “Make no mistake: THIS IS WHY WE ARE UNCIVIL.”

    Exactly! The religious right consistently refuses to play by the rules. As far as they’re concerned, “God’s Law” is the only law that applies. We can’t let up until that idea is pushed far to the fringes and laughed at by nearly everyone.

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