Al Jazeera has condemned YouTube’s compliance with an Israeli law banning the network’s livestreams in the country, warning that the move signals how major tech companies can be “co-opted as instruments of regimes hostile to freedom”.
YouTube’s submission to Israel’s ban became apparent on Wednesday, days after Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karahi ordered a 90-day extension of an existing ban on the network’s operations in Israel, blocking broadcasting and internet companies from carrying the network’s content.
Stuff like this is an interesting issue;
On the one side: if Youtube is ‘defiant’, refusing to block streams the Israelis have ordered them to block; Israel will just remove/block Youtube from the country entirely, so no one has access, worsening news outreach overall.
But on the other hand: when Youtube complies like this, they’re seen as stifling free speach/news and submissive to Israel.
Neither is a good choice, but there’s no winning options here.
YouTube could put up a message that the state ordered them to remove the stream. Then if YouTube gets blocked, it is obvious who the citizens need to talk to.
Do vpns not exist in Israel?
YouTube being broadcast in Israel is not an inherent moral good to be balanced against censorship. And honestly Israel’s threats are almost certainly bullshit. Israel is culturally integrated with the West and YouTube is a vital platform for their businesses and propaganda efforts. They wouldn’t “just block YouTube”.
No. Blocking you tube is great. It’s a shit system that does countless harms run by an evil company from an evil country. Their goal was to make it useful so no one wants to cut it off, letting the poison flow.
It’s a contradictory/inverse relationship.