The Flat Earth Society

Flat Earth Discussion Boards => Flat Earth Community => Topic started by: Tom Bishop on August 27, 2018, 05:04:57 PM

Title: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Tom Bishop on August 27, 2018, 05:04:57 PM
It appears that many people of the wider FE community are complaining that YouTube is demoting Flat Earth videos. YouTube admitted that they were planning on demoting such videos, and a spokeswoman specifically calls out Flat Earth as something to censor in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBM136yuiNQ).

On the most recent Flat Earth Podcast there was discussion about halting the "Research Flat Earth" slogan, since when you search for Flat Earth you get the Flat Earth Society, which they characterize as "full of trolls," and YouTube, which now promotes anti-FE videos. The prospects for the growth of the movement is dismal if Flat Earth is being censored.

This is important. Flat Earth was given its fair assesment in 2015, the first time in hundreds of years, and it exploded into a movement of flat earthers that is still growing. Flat earthers grew to thousands, and the subject is reaching millions of people, because no one had ever seen the evidence from that side before 2015. In 2018, it has now grown and become such a big thing that even mainstream media and the government are attempting to to stop it with censorship, ridicule and education.

Since we rank highly for Flat Earth, I believe that it is increasingly becoming our obligation to come up with some kind of scheme that promotes videos and contents of the wider Flat Earth community. We have discussed a sort of video content site in the past; which still seems like a good idea. Another idea is a Digg-like rating system, where users may submit content that gets upvoted. The old Digg had one option: You have the option to either "Digg" it, or do nothing. This type of scheme would protect from the trolls.

The current admins do not have the time to work on such a venture, and my suggestion would be to create a subdomain and give access to myself and others who would like to work on it. There are plenty of tube and rating-system type content manager systems to base this on.

What is the best way to handle the censorship of YouTube?
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Dr David Thork on August 27, 2018, 06:09:32 PM
Since we rank highly for Flat Earth, I believe that it is increasingly becoming our obligation to come up with some kind of scheme that promotes videos and contents of the wider Flat Earth community.
Or, we let everyone else get pwned and we get all the traffic. You see, when someone types 'flat earth' and all content telling you the earth is flat is being struck down ... what results will be shown? Well I'd imagine the flat earth society, because its the thing you are looking for, and as long as it is not deemed to be anti-education .... it won't be harmed like the youtube videos.

I know you won't want to hear this, but this censorship will clear a lot of the background noise leaving only a few voices ... ours being one of them. You may have a great blog post but you'll be hampered by the censorship in google results ... but we have thousands of backlinks and other things that will still push us to the top.

What is the best way to handle the censorship of YouTube?
We aren't on Youtube. Why do we need to save them? In fact they think we are trolls. Where does that traffic go instead when it gets even more curious now that things are being censored? Censorship drives intrigue. It will only fire people's curiously. If you push something underground, you can't control it. It is like a prohibition of flat earth content.

Most of all, they aren't asking for our help.

When something changes, the balance of winners and losers shifts. You could see this as an obstacle, or you could see this as an opportunity. There will be winners and losers ... play our cards right and we could be the winners.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Tom Bishop on August 27, 2018, 10:45:41 PM
It's not a competition. The audience for this is actually unlimited. There is no limited audience that must be shared between them and us. The fact is that those YouTube content creators inspire the curiosity of the public moreso than our forum posts ever could.

Are we profiting from having more traffic? I haven't seen an increase in my bank account from this. What benefit is it to me for those channels to die off and for us to receive more traffic? This is entirely non-profit. There are no "competitors". It would more benefit us to bring those channels on board and adopt them into the website.

If this website eventually evolved into a tube or news aggregator, with links and graphics to the latest Flat Earth articles and videos, it would greatly benefit the movement and the society. It would help us generate a movement. The forums and debates should actually be a secondary focus, for those people who want to discuss and look into the matter further. The public face of the society needs to inspire and inform. I would rather have a page filled with the latest videos and articles than a news page that is updated once or twice a year.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Dr David Thork on August 27, 2018, 11:34:10 PM
I find this difficult to get enthusiastic about for several reasons.

1) These people don't like us. We are 'controlled opposition' and trolls and whatever else they think of on the day. Now I'm pretty sure if TFES was controlled opposition, you and me would be on the payroll by now, Tom. We'd have a least had a memo. So when I know they are talking rubbish from the get go, its hard to support.
2) A large portion of their content is toxic. Its a poo flinging contest. Its kind of nice to take the moral high ground and not be dragged into it. A lot of the top FE creators are very weird indeed. Patricia whatshername and that guy who desperately wants to have sex with her. Matt 'I've got 24 hours to save the world Boylan', Lord Steven Christ who not only thinks the earth is flat but that he is the son of God and makes regular demands to be Pope, Eric 'gas the Jews' Dubay ... these people are 2 stars short of a constellation.
3) These people are going to get zapped ... and if their content is all over our site, we are going to be collateral damage. If we started hosting Alex Jones and Tommy Robinson videos, what do you think would happen to our google rank? Its going to be the same with these FE videos.
4) This isn't our fight.

I think these people should be able to say what they want, I think they should allow market forces to dictate what people watch, I think the governments should keep their noses out of online content. But I don't think TFES should be nominating itself to help a youtube community that has from the outset made it clear they want nothing to do with us.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Dr David Thork on August 27, 2018, 11:41:17 PM
Edit: Ahh, it seems Lord Steven Christ no longer thinks the earth is flat. He now thinks it is concave ... but he is still God, in case you were wondering. Here is God below, taking a train.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76PXajdWWOM

How do we choose whose videos we host and whose we don't? Do we endorse His Lord and Savior in the video above, or do we become the censors?


As an aside, God lives in a dirty bedsit, goes by the name Steven, has amassed 253 subscribers on youtube in several years, uploads every day and demands you repent and worship him. God also has a lot of baseball caps and chain smokes. I'm hoping Satan is a lot more personable and that I get sent to hell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnxzNYQEFe8

*cold shivers*
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Rama Set on August 28, 2018, 12:20:42 AM
Thork, you literally just posted an epic rant basically espousing now-nazi views. Whether you were sincere or not, the way people will perceive you is more Eric Dubay than Tom Bishop.

 I think Tom has a good view for how this should play out. Although I have no idea what the technical challenges are in turning this site in to a FE Media aggregator, it sounds like an excellent way to continue to improve its position in the FE community.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Dr David Thork on August 28, 2018, 12:26:03 AM
Thork, you literally just posted an epic rant basically espousing now-nazi views. Whether you were sincere or not, the way people will perceive you is more Eric Dubay than Tom Bishop.
How do you understand other people's point of views, if you never explore their position? How will you know the flaws in their arguments, if you never try to make those arguments? I can have a conversation here, that it is almost impossible to have in my real life, or sanitised places on the internet. TFES is my safe space.

I think Tom has a good view for how this should play out. Although I have no idea what the technical challenges are in turning this site in to a FE Media aggregator, it sounds like an excellent way to continue to improve its position in the FE community.
So ... do we become the censors, or does Lord Steven Christ get an equal billing when he says the earth is flat?
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Rama Set on August 28, 2018, 12:39:14 AM
Thork, you literally just posted an epic rant basically espousing now-nazi views. Whether you were sincere or not, the way people will perceive you is more Eric Dubay than Tom Bishop.
How do you understand other people's point of views, if you never explore their position? How will you know the flaws in their arguments, if you never try to make those arguments? I can have a conversation here, that it is almost impossible to have in my real life, or sanitised places on the internet. TFES is my safe space.

Yeah fine, but you literally just criticized others for putting out the exact content you do.

Quote
I think Tom has a good view for how this should play out. Although I have no idea what the technical challenges are in turning this site in to a FE Media aggregator, it sounds like an excellent way to continue to improve its position in the FE community.
So ... do we become the censors, or does Lord Steven Christ get an equal billing when he says the earth is flat?

As always, ideas should be judged on their merits.  If he has good ideas, then those should be discussed. This site does not have to censor material to aggregate it.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: stack on August 28, 2018, 12:46:43 AM
So ... do we become the censors, or does Lord Steven Christ get an equal billing when he says the earth is flat?

You become curators, not censors.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Dr David Thork on August 28, 2018, 12:49:05 AM
Yeah fine, but you literally just criticized others for putting out the exact content you do.
And I put it in a thread that will be buried. Not on youtube.



[
As always, ideas should be judged on their merits.  If he has good ideas, then those should be discussed. This site does not have to censor material to aggregate it.
Lord Steven Christ's idea yesterday was to get on that train and go to the whitehouse. Where he stood outside and proclaimed that '1000 shall flee at the rebuke of one'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYXNlK-ug6g

This is a man who is one day going to decide on his very own judgement day. That's the kind of video you see on the news after it is too late. I'm picking him because he is an extreme case ... but he does do a lot of flat earth videos. And honestly, I don't think we want to promote a lot of the things said by flat earthers outside of this forum. I may decide to see what you might say when confronted with a notion of genocide on a forum out of intellectual curiosity, but I don't go to the White house declaring 1000 people need to 'fear me'. I'm not actually mad or dangerous. Lots of these FE advocates have ulterior motives. And If you haven't noticed ... we don't have insane FErs here. They are all remarkably stable. We chase the lunatics away. We don't need to start hosting their content. Note controversial views in posts, are not the same as a controversial wiki of video library. TFES doesn't endorse a post. But we do endorse any content we distribute.

So ... do we become the censors, or does Lord Steven Christ get an equal billing when he says the earth is flat?

You become curators, not censors.
If we are picking and choosing, it is the same thing.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: stack on August 28, 2018, 01:15:51 AM
So ... do we become the censors, or does Lord Steven Christ get an equal billing when he says the earth is flat?

You become curators, not censors.
If we are picking and choosing, it is the same thing.

I guess it's all in how you position (spin) it. Is the Louvre censoring it's collection?

But a valid point, TFES would become somewhat more of an endorser of outside content. It gets tricky pretty quickly.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Dr David Thork on August 28, 2018, 01:23:02 AM
Is the Louvre censoring it's collection?
Yes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/arts/design/louvre-pulls-domestikator-sculpture-tuileries-fiac.html

Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Rama Set on August 28, 2018, 01:24:14 AM
Yeah fine, but you literally just criticized others for putting out the exact content you do.
And I put it in a thread that will be buried. Not on youtube.

So it’s only that platform that differentiates you? Got it.

Quote
As always, ideas should be judged on their merits.  If he has good ideas, then those should be discussed. This site does not have to censor material to aggregate it.
Lord Steven Christ's idea yesterday was to get on that train and go to the whitehouse. Where he stood outside and proclaimed that '1000 shall flee at the rebuke of one'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYXNlK-ug6g

This is a man who is one day going to decide on his very own judgement day. That's the kind of video you see on the news after it is too late. I'm picking him because he is an extreme case ... but he does do a lot of flat earth videos. And honestly, I don't think we want to promote a lot of the things said by flat earthers outside of this forum.

As I said, accept each idea on its merits, like I am with yours right now. I don’t let your hideous and moronic trolls interfere with other discussions. It’s a virtue of this community and all kindred content should be welcome. A video abot bring on Judgement Day is not FE content, so it would not be the responsibility of a FE media aggregator to House it.

Quote
I may decide to see what you might say when confronted with a notion of genocide on a forum out of intellectual curiosity, but I don't go to the White house declaring 1000 people need to 'fear me'.

Is that what you were doing? Being intellectually curious?

Quote
I'm not actually mad or dangerous. Lots of these FE advocates have ulterior motives. And If you haven't noticed ... we don't have insane FErs here. They are all remarkably stable. We chase the lunatics away.


Sure we do and they have the same responsibility to follow the rules as everyone else. Once they stop following the rules, they get treated as anyone else would under the rules.

Quote
We don't need to start hosting their content. Note controversial views in posts, are not the same as a controversial wiki of video library. TFES doesn't endorse a post. But we do endorse any content we distribute.

You sound like a tone-deaf SJW.



You become curators, not censors.
If we are picking and choosing, it is the same thing.
[/quote]

No, highlighting content is different than obscuring content.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Pete Svarrior on August 28, 2018, 06:18:28 AM
And I put it in a thread that will be buried. Not on youtube.
You put it in a thread in one of the Google-indexable boards. Much like your rants here, that is harmful to our reputation. I don't quite know what to do about it, since I have no interest in censoring you, but perhaps I should say this: You're not helping. You could be having these discussions in AR, but you choose to start them here, and to pepper them with keywords. It's really not appreciated.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Tumeni on August 28, 2018, 09:46:59 AM
From personal experience, if a FE uploader on YouTube receives comments on their video that they don't like, or which contradict their video too much, they either delete the comments, or block the user from further comment.  This can easily be shown by the commenter logging in with their own ID, in which case they can see their own comments, then viewing the same thread either without logging in, or with a different login. Then the comments are invisible. 

Isn't a bit ... you know,   ...  hypocritical of them to bemoan YT for censorship, when they do this so blatantly?
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Dr Van Nostrand on August 28, 2018, 02:06:33 PM
I find this difficult to get enthusiastic about for several reasons.

1) These people don't like us. We are 'controlled opposition' and trolls and whatever else they think of on the day. Now I'm pretty sure if TFES was controlled opposition, you and me would be on the payroll by now, Tom. We'd have a least had a memo. So when I know they are talking rubbish from the get go, its hard to support.
2) A large portion of their content is toxic. Its a poo flinging contest. Its kind of nice to take the moral high ground and not be dragged into it. A lot of the top FE creators are very weird indeed. Patricia whatshername and that guy who desperately wants to have sex with her. Matt 'I've got 24 hours to save the world Boylan', Lord Steven Christ who not only thinks the earth is flat but that he is the son of God and makes regular demands to be Pope, Eric 'gas the Jews' Dubay ... these people are 2 stars short of a constellation.
3) These people are going to get zapped ... and if their content is all over our site, we are going to be collateral damage. If we started hosting Alex Jones and Tommy Robinson videos, what do you think would happen to our google rank? Its going to be the same with these FE videos.
4) This isn't our fight.

I think these people should be able to say what they want, I think they should allow market forces to dictate what people watch, I think the governments should keep their noses out of online content. But I don't think TFES should be nominating itself to help a youtube community that has from the outset made it clear they want nothing to do with us.


Wow! Thork comes through.  Good stuff....


But Tom's opposing point is also very valid. This conflict is often at the very heart of a religion  or political party.
"How do we deal with the extreme edges of our own ideology?"

The current discussion boils it down nicely. "Those people are NOT us but if their freaky extremism creates interest in us, it's not a bad thing."


Be aware, right now the extremists are merely an embarrassment. If any of them start to talk about using violence to reveal the conspiracy, it will behoove TFES to denounce them openly.  (right?)




Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Pete Svarrior on August 28, 2018, 03:06:08 PM
Be aware, right now the extremists are merely an embarrassment. If any of them start to talk about using violence to reveal the conspiracy, it will behoove TFES to denounce them openly.  (right?)
I would certainly hope so. We have denounced acts of vandalism in the past, anything more severe should be a no-brainer.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Bobby Shafto on August 28, 2018, 04:55:52 PM
From personal experience, if a FE uploader on YouTube receives comments on their video that they don't like, or which contradict their video too much, they either delete the comments, or block the user from further comment.  This can easily be shown by the commenter logging in with their own ID, in which case they can see their own comments, then viewing the same thread either without logging in, or with a different login. Then the comments are invisible.
I've noticed this too, but I can't tell if that's an action taken by the video author or just a YouTube filter that may bias toward those who contribute more comments.

I had posted a comment on JTolen Media's IR video of San Jacinto that I thought had been deleted. But it only appeared to be hidden when I was logged into YouTube with my son's account. When I logged in under my own, it was right there.

Since there are critical comments visible under that video, I don't think JTolen is doing any censoring. There's something else going on there with YouTube's algorithm, I think.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Tumeni on August 28, 2018, 05:58:40 PM
I've noticed this too, but I can't tell if that's an action taken by the video author or just a YouTube filter that may bias toward those who contribute more comments.

Look for the comment without logging in. If, after that, you still only see it with your own login, it or you has been suppressed by the video author.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Dr David Thork on August 28, 2018, 11:32:21 PM
My objection to this proposal is because we have had this discussion before regarding a video library.

And I suggested we collect the best videos ... ie ones that we like and ones that fit with our view of FET. But Tom was against this.

There are way too many Flat Earth videos -- hundreds of them -- to go through them one by one and create tags. My suggestion is to do massive YouTube scrapes of Flat Earth videos and video titles/descriptions from the big authors rather than doing it on a video by video basis.

Here is the scraping method, that I sent to you via PM when we were talking about it: https://www.shivarweb.com/4277/scrape-export-video-information-youtube/

If we scrape the titles and descriptions with the video links then we won't have to create tags. The title and description already has the key words of "Coriolis Effect" or whatever the topic may be.

...

And I don't like this idea. Because I know the kind of junk we'll end up with in our library. My question persists

So ... do we become the censors, or does Lord Steven Christ get an equal billing when he says the earth is flat?

Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Tom Bishop on August 29, 2018, 02:00:39 AM
While we should initially "seed" the platform with links to good content, the purpose of such a platform should be geared for anyone to submit videos or articles, just like this forum is open for anyone to post. Submitted videos, podcasts, or other contents get upvoted based on a "thumbs up" rating system. When we go to the site we see the top rated and newest videos, with a more categorized list of channels or topics on the menu. Eventually and ideally, those video authors should be the ones posting their own videos, not us.

If there is someone advocating violence, there is a "report to moderator" button near the video. What is the difference between someone advocating for violence on the forum or in a video? Nothing. It is just a different content format.

Who cares if some of the content is of poor quality? That's what disclaimers are for. Some of these content creators are new to FET, will get some things wrong, but they tend to get better over time. It's not like we are censoring people here on the forum when they may be occasionally incorrect about something.

While the quality may be questionable at times, these content creators have proven that they can suck in the audience. What we want is for our audience to get interested enough in the subject to go on a 6 hour Flat Earth video-watching bender. The bounce rate is probably quite high with our current website format, and we know from the giant YouTube Flat Earth reprisal that the video format is a proven way to suck them in.

As I imagine this, it would look something like the following:

Main Page - automatically display a selection of trending, top, and newly submitted content.

In the side menu we have the following sections:

Flat Earth 101/Top Videos - basically a section with top videos designed to suck the audience in. New users generally start here
Channels - A listing of the Flat Earth channels -- If the users want to view a listing of videos from a user or group they can navigate to their page to see their videos or contents.
Categories - Basically a list of topics that redirects to a search link. "Sinking Ship," "Perspective," etc. For users to research a particular topic.
Search - Allows the user to search freely
Submit Content - Allows the user to submit content

In the top menu we have the other main website links.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Tumeni on August 29, 2018, 06:43:19 AM
You've written elsewhere on the importance of empiricism, but now you're happy to send folk on an eight-hour YouTube binge? Not much empiricism there ...
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Rama Set on August 29, 2018, 11:56:10 AM
You've written elsewhere on the importance of empiricism, but now you're happy to send folk on an eight-hour YouTube binge? Not much empiricism there ...

That doesn’t make much sense. What does YouTube have to do with empiricism? Can’t someone do their own experiments and watch YouTube?
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Bobby Shafto on August 29, 2018, 03:55:44 PM
I've noticed this too, but I can't tell if that's an action taken by the video author or just a YouTube filter that may bias toward those who contribute more comments.

Look for the comment without logging in. If, after that, you still only see it with your own login, it or you has been suppressed by the video author.
I know this is a tangent to the topic, but I wanted to add that the author of one of those videos I commented on, and for which my comment seemed to disappear when I would log out, has responded; which would be very odd if he were trying to suppress my comment.

I think YouTube displays comments according to some formula over which the video author has no control. While it may be true that video authors can suppress comments, I believe seeing your comment seem to disappear does not automatically indict the video author.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: LiqwdE on August 29, 2018, 04:30:44 PM
The thing everyone has to remember. You can't censor the internet.

But, websites (the vast majority) are privately owned and can impose whatever limitations they want. Same as a content creator can.

While I dont normally agree with blocking comments, the internet has become full of trolls and vicious hate speech. If people could be polite and use constructive criticism things would go more smoothly.

Now, on the subject of YouTube specifically. I wish they would pull 80% of the fe/re debated because its muddied with inconsistencies, false statements, lies, bad science, and poor attitudes.

There are few people in the video debates the can give clear and concise information without resorting to name calling and insults. And not just flatearthers. Round earthers are just as guilty.

People also do not want to use proper math or scientific methods. They do an experiment and claim it as proof without any idea if its repeatable or consistent.

If youtube was more like this forum things would be better.

Sometimes I think the FE and RE on youtube are just agreeing like idiots so they can make money. Simple as that.

You guys keep doing what you do and dont worry about the idiots on youtube
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: John Anon on September 07, 2018, 10:04:26 PM
My objection to this proposal is because we have had this discussion before regarding a video library.

And I suggested we collect the best videos ... ie ones that we like and ones that fit with our view of FET. But Tom was against this.

If I understand this right, this forum is only for the model you like ?
If people like me, who are convinced earth is flat, since there is no curvature, but also believes something that differ from your model, can not post anything that differ from your model ?

Where is the dynamic ? It becomes very static if the model can not be challenged .
What if Newton and his apple was not challenged, then the theory of gravity would be a God, you can not question.


We are changing with our experiments, like me trying to reconstruct rainbows indoor, and taking pics under the surface of a pool in a glass bowl to find out why the stars seems to have water ripples with a Nikon 900.
When you test moonlight temperature, you know the heliocentric system is nil and void as it stands.
Our reality are not carved in stone, we are who we are because we think, and challenge and test our beliefs. 
Does other peoples tests becomes nil and void because it does not fit our narrative ?

Personally I have never tested the lack of curve from England to Ireland, but since I have tested it between Spain and Africa, I assume water is just as flat there as were I tested it.
There seems to be a general agreement that there is no curve, and it fits with every flat earth model.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHGTsCZGHJQ&t=1993s
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Dr David Thork on September 07, 2018, 10:18:18 PM
My objection to this proposal is because we have had this discussion before regarding a video library.

And I suggested we collect the best videos ... ie ones that we like and ones that fit with our view of FET. But Tom was against this.

If I understand this right, this forum is only for the model you like ?
If people like me, who are convinced earth is flat, since there is no curvature, but also believes something that differ from your model, can not post anything that differ from your model ?
Your views on earth's shape are perfectly fine. I don't care what you think even if you think the earth is round. And I don't care what flat earth models are examined. There are many I don't like such as the bipolar model, there are some I think are ridiculous like the infinite plane model. But I don't care if videos on either appear in our library. The problem with youtubers is that they aren't all about the flat. Some also subscribe to other conspiracy theories such as lizard people, alien overlords, holocaust denial, Islamic fundamentalism, paedophilia ... you dig about and you'll find flat earth videos that go off on a tangent. Some are pro-Israel, some anti-semetic, some pro-gay, some anti-gay, some pro-Trump etc etc etc. And if we host videos with those views in a our library, we will be asked why? And its a fair question. We are about earth's shape ... and that's the message. But youtubers have a nasty habit of making all their views available in the same videos and we don't share all those views. Which is why I don't think we can just scrape a library together. It needs to be carefully chosen, to make sure its about earth's shape and that's it.

Tom wants to make the site a protector of their views. A place where they are all kept together in one place. But some of their views are batshit, some are wicked and some are dangerous. Its not what they think about earth's shape. Its what they thnk about everything else I worry about. Flat earthers on youtube tend to be a little unhinged. A high risk group, if you like.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Pete Svarrior on September 08, 2018, 02:46:16 PM
If I understand this right, this forum is only for the model you like ?
To reinforce Thork's point: we absolutely welcome models different from our own. I'd be very keen to document other prominent models, and as such would invite anyone who subscribes to them to contribute. The issue, indeed, is that some proponents can go from talking about Flat Earth to advocating genocide in a very short time. We'd need some way to screen for that.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Mysfit on September 30, 2018, 10:30:20 PM
So, what is needed are videos which treat flat earth as a scientific exercise without leading to conspiracy theories.
I’m scared to watch Baby Thork’s videos as they may be more of the latter.
This forum already practices censorship in the form of rules, maybe the videos should follow rules too?
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: OBAMA IS A LIZARD on October 01, 2018, 03:00:41 AM
They do this to every video that isn't kid friendly not really something new.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Tom Bishop on October 01, 2018, 03:27:42 AM
The videos should follow the rules just like any content posted on the forum.
Title: Re: YouTube now censoring and demoting Flat Earth videos
Post by: Dr David Thork on October 01, 2018, 10:39:12 AM
Welp, nothing is going to happen until we have an agreement and we actually do something.

Everyone is in agreement that we could host the best flat earth youtube videos.
Some people aren't happy about scraping and want to see a curated selection.

So the solution is to build a curated library and continue the discussion on scraping until a consensus is reached either way.

I made a thread where we can add videos we've seen that are appropriate.
https://forum.tfes.org/index.php?topic=9908.0

Might I suggest we go back to adding to that, talk to the admins about adding us a library and then have a separate thread to move the videos that are approved to, ready for upload.

Then we are on the journey to making something happen.