YouTube on Wednesday extended its hate speech policy to ban videos denying the existence of the Holocaust and other well-documented genocidal events, and white supremacist and neo-Nazi videos.
The YouTube announcement read: “Today, we’re taking another step in our hate-speech policy by specifically prohibiting videos alleging that a group is superior in order to justify discrimination, segregation, or exclusion based on qualities like age, gender, race, caste, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status.”
“This would include, for example, videos that promote or glorify Nazi ideology, which is inherently discriminatory. Finally, we will remove content denying that well-documented violent events, like the Holocaust or the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, took place,” the announcement said.
The website’s hate speech policy page now reads: “While we’ve always had policies that prohibited hate speech on YouTube, on June 5, we announced some changes to our hate speech policies. You can learn more about those changes here. The below policy has been updated with those changes.
“Hate speech is not allowed on YouTube. We remove content promoting violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on any of the following attributes: Age; Caste; Disability; Ethnicity; Gender Identity; Nationality; Race; Immigration Status; Religion; Sex/Gender; Sexual Orientation; Victims of a major violent event and their kin; Veteran Status.
“Don’t post content on YouTube if the purpose of that content is to do one or more of the following: encourage violence against individuals or groups based on any of on the attributes noted above; we don’t allow threats on YouTube; and we treat implied calls for violence as real threats.”
