National News

YouTube Removes ‘String’ Channel For Violating ‘Community Guidelines’

September 21, 2023
The Commune

YouTube has once again acted on String channel by deleting the entire channel from its platform. What’s particularly surprising is that String mentioned on their X handle that YouTube deleted their channel without issuing any prior warnings or “strike” or intimation of violation. Instead of issuing strikes for policy violations, YouTube apparently directly deleted the channel. According to the String team, YouTube’s explanation for this action is that they found severe or repeated violations of their Community Guidelines, which led to the removal of the channel from the platform.

In the email screenshot shared by String, it is mentioned that if YouTube thinks a channel severely violated its policies, they take it down to “protect other users” on the platform. The policy states that “Channels that violate our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service may receive a strike or be terminated. Your existing YouTube channels, new channels you create or acquire, and channels in which you repeatedly or prominently feature will be terminated if you circumvent a strike restriction or previous termination.”

In response to String’s post on X, YouTube responded by saying, “we’re going to pass this along for a closer look”.

On 19 September 2023, String made an announcement about its latest podcast with Vivek Agnihotri, the director of the film, “The Vaccine War” which is slated for release on 28 September 2023.

Following this, the news that the channel was being removed from the platform came to be known. Vivek Agnihotri tweeted, “BIG NEWS: Yesterday @StringReveals announced our podcast on ‘Toolkit Gang’ which was employed by India’s enemies to sabotage Indian Vaccine Project. Fearing the exposé, Toolkit Gang went on to mass report to @YouTube and got the channel deleted without any warning. Free speech messiahs want to silence #TheVaccineWar but they can NEVER silence us. Just wait and watch.”

Agnihotri also shared a post which said, “First, the ‘TOOLKIT GANG’ attacked Bharat’s own vaccine, few days ago they targeted scientists who made this vaccine and now they want to silence a podcast with @StringReveals  on our scientist’s war with ‘toolkit gang’. You decide who would win this war.”

He posted this after several journalists and leftist handles talked down the trailer, calling it a propaganda film. He said the journalists who called India-made Covaxin as substandard and defamed the vaccine during the critical period of the pandemic. A case filed against her ensured she deleted the 14 fake/defamatory articles she had written.

String led by Vinodh Kumar puts videos on important issues of national and international relevance attacking leftists with their detailed exposes.

This is not the first time YouTube has acted on String for their content. In 2021, YouTube pulled down a video that exposed the content of the Greta Thunberg Toolkit and included the names of various media outlets, journalists, and ‘activists.’ The reason cited for this removal by the video-sharing platform is “harassment and bullying.”

In this video, Vinodh, the host of String, elucidated the connections between institutions funded by George Soros, specific Indian media organizations, and certain ‘activists.’ He explained how they were involved in a coordinated social media campaign related to the ‘farmers’ protest, with support both from within and outside India.

The video also shed light on DIGIPUB, an association of media entities such as The Wire, Scroll, The Quint, The News Minute, Newslaundry, Alt News, etc., and how these media organisations and their associated journalists were mentioned in Greta’s ‘tool kit,’ which aimed to conduct a questionable propaganda against India.

Furthermore, the video revealed how a foreign individual named Annalisa Merelli had endorsed these media outlets to receive funds just days before Greta Thunberg shared the toolkit. String’s exposé had garnered significant attention, amassing several hundred thousand views and gaining notice from prominent figures. However, YouTube removed the video due to “violating YouTube’s policy on harassment and bullying.” The removal appears to have occurred after numerous reports were made against it.

Last time, the video was deleted, however, this time the entire String channel has been removed from the platform. 

Some YouTubers like Shambhav Sharma came out in support of String team.

 

It is ironical that despite numerous reports and complaints, YouTube still continues to host channels that disseminate separatist content, spread misinformation, and make derogatory remarks about the religious beliefs of the majority Hindu community. Channels like Dhruv Rathee have been known to propagate false information while channels like U2 Brutus that share videos making derogatory comments about Hindu deities and scriptures have been given a free pass.

The question now remains whether the String channel will be reinstated after an appeal or will remain permanently deleted.

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