YouTube Removes, Then Restores, Media Matters’ Compilation Video Of Alex Jones Calling Sandy Hook A ‘Hoax’
Earlier today, Media Matters for America announced that a compilation video it had created of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones continuously claiming the Sandy Hook shooting was a “false flag” and “hoax” had been removed by YouTube for violating the video platform’s guidelines. On top of that, the media watchdog group had been informed a temporary penalty strike was issued to its account. If an account receives three strikes, YouTube will permanently ban it.
Hours after Media Matters reported on the removal and strike, YouTube restored the video to the site. Media Matters confirmed that the strike was removed from its account, but also told Contemptor that YouTube did not provide an explanation for the restoration.
As MMfA news editor John Whitehouse noted in the site’s post on the strike and video removal, the video was created shortly after two Sandy Hook families filed defamation lawsuits against Jones over his repeated accusations that the massacre was faked and “crisis actors” were used. Of the clips of Jones that Media Matters utilized, several of them were still up live on Jones’ YouTube page.
Below is the video that is now back up on YouTube:
After the video was removed, Whitehouse sent out the following tweets:
YouTube gave a strike for harassment to a compilation of Alex Jones' statements on Sandy Hook.
These are some of the videos still up on his website. https://t.co/i58kysZnzV pic.twitter.com/jRMXnqCdwn
— John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) April 23, 2018
So, literally, if you make a compilation of videos of things on Alex Jones' YouTube page, Youtube will give you a strike. But Jones gets a pass.
Why does YouTube hold Jones to a lower standard than other users?
— John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) April 23, 2018
to answer a common q: this is probably a mistake in enforcement — but it's a telling one:. youtube *knows* that jones' statements here violate its terms of service. it just refuses to enforce them on him, holding other accounts (like ours in this case) to a higher standard.
— John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) April 23, 2018
And Media Matters’ Matt Gertz had the following to say about it:
So @mmfa got a strike from YouTube for "harassment and bullying" because we posted a compilation video detailing Alex Jones' Sandy Hook conspiracies.
Several of the Alex Jones videos we used to make that compilation are still live on the platform.https://t.co/3ZTI0xfqhs pic.twitter.com/8Z1Dvvidh4
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) April 23, 2018
Seems like there's two options:
1) We're being punished for harassing Alex Jones by posting a video detailing things that he said.
2) We're being punished for harassing the Sandy Hook families for posting his comments in a way that Jones hasn't been.
Both options seem bad!
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) April 23, 2018
On Monday afternoon, when Whitehouse revealed that YouTube had restored the video to their page, he noted that YouTube hasn’t answered why Jones’ videos weren’t questioned.
so youtube (unsurprisingly) restored our jones video. it still must answer why jones is not being pressed about the videos on his account. https://t.co/SkS0CKxM2j
— John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) April 23, 2018
A YouTube spokesperson gave the following statement to Contemptor regarding the initial removal of the video:
“With the massive volume of videos on our site, sometimes we make the wrong call. When it’s brought to our attention that a video or channel has been removed mistakenly, we act quickly to reinstate it. We also give uploaders the ability to appeal these decisions and we will re-review the videos.”
Meanwhile, Jones and his conspiracy site InfoWars are reportedly perilously close to having their page permanently shut down, as it was reported earlier this year that the official InfoWars page had received two strikes over its content targeting Parkland survivors.
