YouTube Protects Hate Speech By Banning Palestinian Media Watch (Updated)

"Hate speech" refers to content that promotes hatred against members of a protected group. For instance, racist or sexist content may be considered hate speech. Sometimes there is a fine line between what is and what is not considered hate speech. For instance, it is generally okay to criticize a nation, but not okay to make insulting generalizations about people of a particular nationality.
YouTube policy on Hate Speech

By now, you are probably aware that YouTube has removed a number of the videos posted by the Palestinian Media Watch, on account that they violate YouTube's policy violating hate speech.

And no wonder!

As IMRA points out, the videos that YouTube has banned are are viciously anti-Semitic:

1. "Hamas TV teaches kids to kill Jews"
formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwN2M6ZIIRU
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 10/02/2009.

2. "Jews are a virus like Aids"
formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYaGl3KjPUw
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 01/18/2010.

3. "Farewell video before suicide attack of Hamas suicide bomber Adham Ahmad
Hujyla Abu Jandal"
formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYdTudQhWM4
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 06/10/2010.

4. "Hamas suicide farewell video: Jews monkeys and pigs; Maidens reward for
killing Jews"
formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryc7RqXlVdE
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 08/14/2010.

5. "PA cleric: Kill Jews, Allah will make Muslims masters over Jews"
formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjuDTO8fgqM
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 12/12/2010.

6. "Hamas suicide terrorist farewell video: Palestinians drink the blood of Jews" formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSftYIGH6-w
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 12/15/2010.

[Note: currently, the last 3 are now again available on YouTube]

But that's the funny part--you would have expected that it would be the Jews who would have protested the presence of these videos on YouTube, but it's not. Instead it has been Palestinian supporters who have insisted on this videos being removed--as if the videos which expose the hate speech propagated by the Palestinian leadership and controlled media, themselves represent hate speech.

Obviously, it's not as if Palestinian supporters are jumping to eliminate anti-Semitic speech.
No. They just don't want the rest of the world to see English translations of the hate speech that is regularly being spread around the Muslim world.

According to the YouTube Community Guidelines:

We encourage free speech and defend everyone's right to express unpopular points of view. But we don't permit hate speech (speech which attacks or demeans a group based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, and sexual orientation/gender identity).

So, is YouTube accusing Palestinian Media Watch of attacking and demeaning Jews?
Or is it just opposed to Palestinian Media Watch freely expressing its opposition to the expression of anti-Semitic hate speech in the Muslim world.

Maybe YouTube can explain that one.

UPDATED: At this point, it seems that all of the videos are back up. That leaves the major question of how long till these same people try the same thing again, gaming the system.

Along similar lines, Soccer Dad points out a broader question, one regarding the Internet in general. Censurship of the Internet may not be the least of its problems:

Arabs Target the Internet

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the entity responsible for assigning domain names on the Internet.

On September 25, 2010, the ICANN board of directors approved the following resolution: “The definition of Continent or UN Regions in the Guidebook should be expanded to include UNESCO’s regional classification list which comprises: Africa, Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America, Latin America and the Caribbean.” The new “Geographic Region” definition collapses Europe and North America into a single region, while creating a new “Arab States” region.

The change marks a fundamental shift from what are more or less geographical regions to cultural/ethnic regions.

Should the September 25 resolution become applicable to ICANN’s board of directors, it would mean that the “Arab States” region would be entitled to between one and five directorships, while the collapsed “North American and Europe” region would have a maximum of five seats.

ICANN’s board also removed a reference to “terrorism” from the fourth version of its Draft Applicant Guidebook after complaints were received from several Arab individuals and organizations.
Failing to retain the ability to investigate applicants for ties to terrorism would significantly hamper ICANN’s effectiveness, and could lead to a proliferation of pro-terrorist websites.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Gaza and Hamas and Operation Cast Lead.