Censorship blocks the expression of good ideas
and inhibits the scrutiny of bad ones.
It retards civilisation.
Our modern Western civilisation is an icon
to the worth and fruits that freedom of expression
and freedom of speech can deliver.
However, still in the background, there are those
who would happily promote censorship, either legal
or illegal, to protect their ideas from public analysis.
Creationists have now clearly adopted the abuse
of a legal instrument constructed for the protection
of copyrighted material; the Digital Millenium Copyright Act
or DMCA
as their weapon-of-choice in attempting to censor those
critical of their beliefs.
Over the last year or so, at least five creationist
organisations and individuals have filed multiple
MULTIPLE baseless DMCAs against work critical of them.
All of those that were opposed were won by individuals
who recognised the danger posed by allowing such abuse.
The offending creationist organisations and individuals include:
Creation Science Evangelism, founded of course by the
convicted fraudster Kent Hovind,
Illustra Media, a subsidiary of the Discovery Institute
that's the creationist organisation at the core of
the "intelligent design" movement,
Answers in Genesis and their frontman, Ken Ham,
VenomFangX of course, who filed over 150 DMCAs
And Eternal Media among others.
In response to this, we have formed a now
multinational alliance.
We have formed this alliance as a defence mechanism
against the abuse of the DMCA.
We have now pooled our legal knowledge
and it should be borne in mind that even as individuals
we were hammering these creationists on every
baseless DMCA they filed.
Secondly, we have decided to immediately name
and shame any creationist organisation who files
a BASELESS DMCA claim.
If you try filing a baseless DMCA claim, it is likely
given that we have maybe 100,000 subscribers
between us
that maybe 1,000,000 people will know about it
within a week.
Finally, it should be stated that every time you
file and lose a DMCA claim
you just bring that time one day closer
when one of you will end up in front of a judge for this.
We defend reason,
we defend Western values
and we defend freedom of speech from those who
would limit it for dogmatic reasons.
And now, due to this pattern of creationist behaviour
we do it as one.
The following is a message from a few of our number.
Particular organisations and individuals appear to
have demonstrated a track record of misusing DMCAs
to censor comment and criticism.
Even if you receive legal advice that you are likely
to be protected under the 'Fair Use' provisions
the idea of fighting a DMCA is not simply a legal issue.
It's a commitment to stick it out against
these organisations and their underhand tactics
to avoid criticism of their misinformation.
After all, you have to hand over to them
your personal details when you lodge the counter-claim.
When I made that decision to stand up
and fight against this misuse of DMCAs
I found that I was not alone.
I'm not sure if we realise the potential
we all have as a collective.
I'm not sure if we realise that a collective action
on all our parts is far more powerful
than the sum of all our individual actions.
The time for tolerating this misuse is at an end.
Please feature, favourite and share this video
in addition to the copies on our other channels.
I grew up in a pre-internet world
where any time you got into a discussion
on any topic
whether it was history, science, religion,
matters of social politics and scandal,
whatever the subject was, whoever you
were talking to might pull up whatever urban legend
was necessary to back up his story at the time.
There was no way, on the fly, to figure out
what information was actually factual
and what was just made up on the spot, statistic-wise.
The only way you could find out
was if you went to the library all day and perhaps
not even then.
So you had to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Especially if they seemed morally outraged by
whatever "fact" they just coughed up.
Back then, propaganda and emotional arguments
with made-up statistics on the spot usually won.
These are the people who want to bridle
internet information, the free expression of ideas
and prohibit or limit their spread through
the general public.
Controlling information and suppressing ideas
is the means to manipulate the minds of the masses.
But ethnocentric bigotry and religious or nationalist
propaganda collapse in an unrestricted global forum.
That's why some would seek to silence, censor,
restrict and restrain contrary comments, while we
need to preserve and promote your right
to say whatever you want, whoever you are
no matter how wrong I can show you to be.
Hi, this is AndromedasWake.
My subscribers and regular viewers know
that I freely allow any and all comments, ratings
and responses on my channel
and this is because I believe the only way
to settle a debate is to allow everyone
the right to speak.
After all, when debate is genuinely free
the truth will always win.
But there are those out there who seek to
silence the opinions of others, because
their agenda is threatened by rational enquiry.
That they refuse to acknowledge criticism is bad enough
but their rampant misuse of the DMCA
to extend their branch of censorship
directly to the YouTube accounts of those
who refute them is completely unacceptable.
Sadly, because of these actions, free speech
must be continually fought for.
I urge you to oppose DMCA abuse and
stand up for free speech on YouTube.
Hi, this is Potholer54.
If any of you have visited my channel
you'll know it's completely open for debate.
Ratings haven't been disabled,
comments aren't screened
anyone can post anything good or bad,
critical or supportive.
And that's what I love about YouTube.
It's a worldwide open forum that has the
potential to change minds across the world
and present new opinions to people who've
been cloistered in narrow-minded communities
and repressive regimes.
At least, that's how it's supposed to work.
And that's why I'm standing against the
false filing of DMCAs and urging YouTube
to take action against people who want to
shut down channels and videos that challenge their beliefs.
I have no objection to the legitimate protection
of copyright, but this is an issue of fair use
for the purpose of academic debate.
In several cases, especially those related to
creationist preacher Kent Hovind,
Hovind himself specifically says that his videos
are not copyrighted.
But when some Youtubers used clips of
his material, in order to refute Hovind
They were shut down because of false claims
of breach of copyright.
Let's get this straight, this kind of action has
nothing to do with the protection of copyrighted material.
It's a tactic designed purely and simply
to shut up dissent.
To silence critics and stamp on freedom of speech.
If this is allowed to continue, then YouTube
will eventually become just a boring mouthpiece of
organisations that screen comments and
shut down critics.
This is your medium people.
Stand up for it.
Hi, this is ThetaOmega and I'm stating my support
for the campaign against the abuse of the DMCA.
Censorship is basically when you silence people
who are critical of your opinions.
The only time when censorship works
is when you are infallible.
Do you know anyone who's infallible?
Fight DMCA abuse. Fight censorship.
This is your YouTube. Stand up for it.
This is Don Exodus.
Censorship is a tool used by simple minds to mislead and misinform
If the facts and reason aren't on your side
it's very easy to win a debate if there's nobody
to debate against.
Please, oppose censorship in all its forms
whether it's the false filing of DMCA copyright claims
or simply deleting or disapproving comments that disagree
with your videos.
CDK007 here.
As many of you know, my channel is about the
free exchange of ideas.
I don't censor voting, comments or video responses.
However there are those who are more than willing
to suppress the speech of others in order
to further their agenda.
Since its inception, a small minority of people
have attempted to manipulate YouTube to censor
ideas they don't necessarily agree with.
They have used a variety of techniques
but the false filing of DMCAs is the most insidious.
We don't need to sit back and let these individuals
steal our freedom.
If we join together, we can convince YouTube
to change its policies.
How do I know this can work?
After people realised they could suppress others
by repeatedly 'down-thumbing' every single comment
under a video, we complained and YouTube responded.
This time, I'm asking you to do more than just think about it.
Together, we can make a difference.
We would like to hear from you if you have
been served with a DMCA notice that you consider
was issued in order prohibit free expression
rather than to protect copyright.
We would like know how often it is happening,
who served these notices, what happened as a result.
We believe that opportunity for education, freedom of expression
and freedom of speech are causes worth protecting.
We want to do what we can to protect them.
Please help us do that.
Feature, favourite, share, rate and comment on
the copies of this video on all our channels.
Thank you.
