Unpersoned by YouTube?

User "NoSaviorButYou" left some comments on one of my videos. I responded to his comments. Some time later when I checked back his comments had been removed, presumably by YouTube. After investigating I discovered the his account had been Suspended. Potentially this means that if your account gets suspended, YouTube retroactively removes all your comments from other people's videos. This doesn't seem right to me. Furthermore it causes some confusion by altering the conversation thread; in the instance of my video it actually made it appear as though I were replying to another user!

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• YouTube
• policy
• questionable
• censorship
• unperson
• 1984
• retroactively
• erased
• comments
• deleted
• account
• suspended
• freedom
• of
• speech

[unassumption]

It's a creepy system but this is their website, if we let them own it. Its a podium, we don't have a right to speak here if we break the rules of the people who own it. Its like we can't say just anything on TV, there are rules, the network can tell you to GTFO their airwaves if they don't like what your saying. Maybe they think the comments by a person like this might hurt their image or something? i agree its fucking creepy though.

[neotoy]

@unassumption I mainly found it interesting because I'd never seen it happen before and yet there is still no official policy outlining the treatment of comments in relation to account status. I've noticed since that other accounts have been closed and yet the comments remain. Possibly the policy has changed, or this was just a special exception made due to the high-profile nature of the video.

[unassumption]

@neotoy

youtube changes the comments section and video layout on a whim, probably do the same with bans. 

[unassumption]

better to know who the racists are than have them hidden but keeping their views IMO

[raindog951]

Totally agree. Youtube is here to make money and screw what people think. Pity, as it could be much more.

[FeelFreeToArgue]

I haven't encountered it, though I think I saw the section you're talking about - your responses to his comments just hanging in space.

I agree that it seems very extreme. Unfortunately, if the people at the top had their way, YouTube would be a completely tame, absolutely uncontroversial site. They're not interested in it as an evolution in the marketplace of ideas - to them it's just a box that allows them to sell eyeballs to advertisers.