For nearly two decades, YouTube has been a source for news and current events for millions around the world. It is an easily accessible platform for users — including corporations, organizations and individuals — to post videos to their liking. However, over the past few weeks, YouTube has been silently deleting over 700 videos of Palestinian rights organizations displaying Israeli war crimes and terror against the Palestinian people, leading users to wonder whether YouTube truly upholds free speech.
The three large Palestinian human rights channels YouTube recently removed without warning are Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. These channels offered hours of documentation by journalists and activists, hoping to show the world evidence of Israel’s crimes against humanity. Notable evidence posted by these channels includes the inquisition into the death of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, a documentary about children murdered by Israeli strikes while playing together on a beach and testimonies of the torture Palestinians are subjected to.
According to The Intercept, when asked why these videos were taken down, YouTube stated the removals were a consequence of President Donald Trump’s administration’s increasing defense of Israel’s crimes in Gaza and the West Bank. U.S. Department of State sanctions have been placed against various human rights non-governmental organizations due to their work with the International Criminal Court in issuing warrants for arrest against Israeli war criminals, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Senior staff attorney Katherine Gallagher of the Center for Constitutional Rights states, “[i]t is outrageous that YouTube is furthering the Trump administration’s agenda to remove evidence of human rights violations and war crimes from public view.” This level of censorship is dangerous. It silences the voices of Palestinian victims and their stories while simultaneously protecting those who deserve to be held accountable.
“YouTube’s removal of a human rights organisation’s platform, carried out without prior warning, represents a serious failure of principle and an alarming setback for human rights and freedom of expression,” said a spokesperson from the West Bank-based channel Al Haq.
Allowing Trump to dictate what is shown in the media is the exact definition of an authoritarian takeover and should not be taken lightly. YouTube is complicit in the Palestinian genocide, and blood is on their hands.
