News :: GLBT
YouTube Censures Teenage Gay Kiss But Permits Gay Bashing Video by Ambrose Aban
EDGE ContributorMonday Sep 10, 2007YouTube has walked into a maelstrom that has put into question its purported aims of not editing or censoring content. A video of two teenagers kissing was removed from the the site, causing outrage among gay viewers and activists. What has them even more riled is that a video was shown of two other teenagers engaged in a gay bashing incident.
The site, which was purchased by Google for seven figures, is a bastion of do-it-yourself video. As the paradigm of online democracy, it is probably the last place you’d suspect would be homophobic. But some are accusing the hugely popular site of subversely supporting homophibia via its policies.
People also wonder if the monster corporate parent isn’t affecting the decisions of its bratty offspring. "If YouTube had just passed its embryonic stage or just now only become the ’Net’s latest little emperor without a good thinking-head on its shoulders, we can understand that," says gay activist Xavier Francis. "But we cannot say the same for Google, its new parent, who bought it for $1.65 billion in stock not too long ago." Google should seek to differentiate between censorship and encouraging violence, racism and homophobia, he suggests.
The apparently innocuous video of two teenagers, Luke and Noah, kissing for five seconds was reportedly removed from You Tube. The two young men have said that the video was submitted as proof of the special relationship between them, showing their affection for each other and hoping to remind the world that a kiss is just a kiss.
YouTube, however, didn’t see it that way. The site’s managers censored and restricted the video until protests brought it wider attention. What has activists’ hackles up are the numerous clips posted on You Tube by teenage boys where they call gay bloggers and others "faggot" and "cocksuckers." In addition, there are numerous videos of gay kissing scenes taken from soap operas, films and other commercial video outlets.
"As a parent, Google should tell its swelled-head kid to play fair and just," Francis adds about YouTube. "They should tell YouTube to be empathic and sympathetic toward others. While we applaud YouTube for publishing millions of videos 24/7, we were also distressed to note the absence of common courtesy and the lack of respect for gay teenagers and the LGBT community in YouTube’s part."
It’s an apparent double standard between Hollywood product and the innocent desire of two boys to project their affection that has people up in arms.
The site’s popularity makes it a target for those on both sides of the issue. Every day, millions of people from all parts of the planet long on to watch video clips and check out new postings. But as the site becomes nearly ubiquitous, some postings are raising questions of how the site managers are editing--or in some cases, not editing--racist or sexist content.
In March of this year, three teenagers in Alsip, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, allegedly attacked a younger teen and posted a video of the bashing incident on YouTube. Police were tipped off by a parent who overheard kids talking about the video. The police said that the teens, who were from several different area high schools, had told everyone to watch their attack on YouTube.
For the perpetrators of the attack, the chance to show off their action may have helped prompt it, according to published sources. The impact of the video has aroused public anger, mainly among LGBT activists, who are directing their ire at YouTube’s managers.
The generap public is now weighing in on the YouTube debate. Stella Longines is a lesbian investor relations specialist in New York City, but she has very definite opinions about censoring gay kissing while allowing gay bashing on the web.
’We don’t control the content on our site. Our community flags content that is inappropriate.’ "What You Tube has done recently is a complete disgrace to us all - straight and gay," Longines says. "We do not see homophobic rants and videos condemning homosexuals on You Tube as ’teasers’ to draw more traffic to the site."
It should be noted that racist, anti-Semitic and even virulently anti-American videos are thrown up on the site for viewing with no editorial directives. There are also videos that are controversial in other areas, such as drug use or videos that encourage girls to become anorexic or bulimic by showing "thinspiration": clips of very thin models and celebrities.
"If YouTube had thought and acted wisely, it would have surrendered the posting to the police instead of allowing itself to be used by criminals for their own enjoyment at seeing themselves bashing other people," says Charles Housels, a gay financial analyst at a hedge fund firm in the city.
Housels says he and many others who were alerted to the Illinois video flagged it, but "No matter how many times we flag it or other people say they flagged it, it did not get restricted," he said. He wrote to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination, but says he has yet to receive a response.
It may be that senior management at GLAAD was searching for an approach to a new problem in a new medium. In time, the advocacy group finally came out against YouTube.
"There’s really no credible reason why a simple kiss -- a common romantic display of affection that we see everyday on both You Tube and daytime television -- should or could be flagged like this," GLAAD Entertainment Media Director Damon Romine told EDGE. Romine added that the organization has not yet reached out to YouTube to discuss their protocols for dealing with inappropriate flagging of content. Gay bloggers, on the other hand, weren’t so restrained in their vitriol as GLAAD. Around the globe, they pointed accusing fingers at YouTube for obliquely encouraging homophobic attacks via lack of definitive action.
YouTube, in its defense, has sent out press releases in which it maintains that it is trying to be fair to everyone. But YouTube’s Silicone Valley-based management sat on the issue for a several days while attacks mounted.
Still, many gay men and lesbians believe that YouTube’s power as a new medium can still be harnessed to positive effect. "YouTube has to start to care more about the plight of people with HIV and AIDS and about health care in America," says YouTube fan Marcus Gellispe. "You Tube has a big role to play in disseminating quality and real-time information, not be used again and again, as a vehicle, to spread hate words by some people."
And then there’s the real issue where Web sites are concerned: What do advertisers think? One gay media buyer in Manhattan puts it to the company directly: "Lip service is good, but until YouTube does something right for everyone, I am not interested in buying YouTube. Why was it so hard for YouTube to understand what was wrong? Don’t they have common sense?"
Sarah Warn wrote an article back January about what she sees as a double standard for videos on You Tube. She quoted YouTube’s marketing manager, Jenny Nielson, as saying "The fact is we don’t control the content on our site. Our community decides what content rises up, and also flags content that is inappropriate. Once the content is flagged, we review the video and remove it if it violates our terms of use." According to Warn, Nielson did not comment on the videos that remain on the site while flagged as inappropriate.
"Everything offends someone," one blogger wrote.. "YouTube has a review process that should override a simple kissing scene, and one that does not breach the 13-second FCC rule."
While it is true that, unlike broadcast media, Internet sites do not have to follow any guidelines from the Federal Communications Communication, market forces and popular opinion may finally force the popular video site’s hand.
Caught between the moon and New York City which he calls home since 2000, Ambrose Aban wrote for Malaysia, Singapore and Bangkok Tatler, reviewed restaurants and wrote special ad supplement, "Christopher Street", for HX Magazine New York, contributed to leading English dailies in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Ambrose loves giving up the secrets of everything from where to find the most delicious Orange Glazed Peking Duck to how to prepare extravagant chic soirees in the city.
|
|
|
Email
Print
Share