YouTube blocks, then unblocks, a St. Louis County Council meeting recording

[Wingnut]

CLAYTON — St. Louis County officials said Wednesday they will no longer use YouTube to host video recordings of public meetings after the streaming giant again temporarily blocked video of a County Council meeting that featured people making false or unproven claims about COVID-19 vaccines.

For hours Wednesday, the link to Tuesday night’s council meeting was replaced with a message noting the recording had been removed for “violating YouTube’s community guidelines.” The guidelines cover COVID-19 misinformation, among other violations, barring content “that contradicts local health authorities’ or the World Health Organization’s medical information about COVID-19.”

It was the fourth council meeting since late July that YouTube had temporarily censored, St. Louis County Information Technology Director Charles Henderson confirmed.

Each of the meetings featured comments from dozens of angry members of the public who spoke out against vaccines or mask requirements. Some speakers have denied the existence of the coronavirus; others have alleged the vaccines are part of a government conspiracy.

Councilman Tim Fitch, R-3rd District, called for the county to stop using YouTube to host its meetings.

“We need to move away from a private company and find our own streaming service that does not take away the people’s right to speak,” Fitch said. “People get up and say things that I don’t agree with, and probably most people don’t agree with, but that’s their First Amendment right.”

He continued, “That’s what public forum is about: giving people their First Amendment right to speak. It’s not sanctioning any of their comments, and we don’t get to censor that.”

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/youtube-blocks-then-unblocks-a-st-louis-county-council-meeting-recording/article_f59d8475-0ca9-586b-a45c-a96692066498.html

[mountaineer]

The sad thing is that I'm not surprised. YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, et al., must long for the days of the USSR. They'd fit right in.

[DB]

The sad thing is that I'm not surprised. YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, et al., must long for the days of the USSR. They'd fit right in.

What I don't understand is why so many people continue to use these services, even hard core conservatives. Vote with your feet!

[240B]

The sad thing is that I'm not surprised. YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, et al., must long for the days of the USSR. They'd fit right in.

It is more like they are jealous of Germany in the 1930s. Today, they can only delete and block any thoughts they do not sanction. But in the 30s they would be able to track these people down and break their heads, even kill them. YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, MSN, refer to this period of time as "the good old days".