Importantly, YouTube is also changing its recommendation engine to display “authoritative sources” more prominently in more cases, such as when a user has watched a bunch of conspiracy theory videos in a row.

— Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) June 5, 2019

Any praise you may want to give YouTube for finally acting on this should be accompanied by the fact that they let this vile stuff flourish on their platform for seven years after the Sandy Hook shooting. They knew about it and let it exist until the backlash became untenable. https://t.co/iHZNy2bcEz

— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) June 5, 2019

To be crystal clear: @YouTube has decided that targeted racist and homophobic harassment does not violate its policies against hate speech or harassment.

That’s an absolutely batshit policy that gives bigots free license.

— Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) June 4, 2019

YouTube just banned supremacist content, and thousands of channels are about to be removed. Why isn't Facebook doing this? https://t.co/bFi47I1Z0q via @Verge

— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) June 5, 2019

Good thread on the flip side of YouTube enforcing its ban on support of Nazi ideology — even when it’s documentary footage https://t.co/s2SLBE4cXH

— Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) June 5, 2019

One of the weirdest things about this moment is the absolute insistence by conservatives that any action against racism or sexism or homophobia is also an action against conservative speech. It's like watching an own goal on constant loop.

— nilay patel (@reckless) June 5, 2019

This is an important step, and will have some positive effects. It’s unrelated to the ongoing controversy over harassment, though. https://t.co/c4l2v9RZvD

— Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) June 5, 2019

Unlike FB’s takedowns a few weeks ago, YouTube declined to share examples of high-profile creators whose channels would be banned under the new hate speech policy. So this may affect lesser-watched accounts, moreso than the million-plus subscriber channels.

— Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) June 5, 2019

Youtube claims that "We recognize some of this content has value to researchers and NGOs looking to understand hate in order to combat it, and we are exploring options to make it available to them in the future."https://t.co/7MdNpIE2n9 pic.twitter.com/1rKItT0Miy

— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) June 5, 2019

More details: YouTube’s new policies will prohibit neo-Nazi videos, crisis actor stuff, and “videos alleging that a group is superior in order to justify discrimination, segregation or exclusion.” Changes are expected to hit thousands of channels and tens of thousands of videos.

— Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) June 5, 2019

What a day for YouTube to announce that it is banning supremacist channels in an unsigned blog post! https://t.co/5Lt8Y8r1Ny

— nilay patel (@reckless) June 5, 2019

New: YouTube is removing thousands of videos from white supremacists and tightening its hate speech policies.

At the same time, it is under fire for allowing a popular right-wing creator to harass @gaywonk.

Making rules is easier than enforcing them! https://t.co/PCtM5eGnjn

— Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) June 5, 2019

.@TeamYouTube is clearly trying to pull themselves out of the hole they put themselves in yesterday, but this is a good move nonetheless. https://t.co/hVjYR0AvXL

— Sleeping Giants (@slpng_giants) June 5, 2019

So YouTube TODAY decided to ban videos that praise Nazis and deny the Holocaust and Sandy Hook.

They let those videos on their platform until now, you ask? YEP.

Meanwhile, you should read @gaywonk to see what is really going on on YouTube. https://t.co/Gh5iz5pB8j

— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) June 5, 2019

But, no, @youtube says these changes still wouldn't result in a different result to its investigation of Steven Crowder's harassment of @gaywonk https://t.co/Ozxubi509H

— Ina Fried (@inafried) June 5, 2019

.@YouTube is NAILING it today. https://t.co/ASTzHLDA9D

— Sleeping Giants (@slpng_giants) June 5, 2019

Feeling a little better about humanity this morning. Of about Google/YouTube, anyway.

Kudos to all who had a hand in pushing to make this happen. https://t.co/7Zi22B1523

— Tim Stevens (@Tim_Stevens) June 5, 2019

One notable thing here is that YouTube now considers survivors of mass tragedies, such as Sandy Hook and 9/11, a protected class. So videos denying that those events took place are now prohibited

— Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) June 5, 2019

Only 1 out of the 20+ Nazi Youtube channels I monitor regularly has had some videos removed, even that channel wasn’t full on suspended. https://t.co/hQQSGzUVhS

— vampire hunting: spring cleaning (@RiotDoge) June 5, 2019

Within minutes of @YouTube's announcement of a new purge it appears they caught my outlet, which documents activism and extremism, in the crossfire.

I was just notified my entire channel has been demonetized. I am a journalist whose work there is used in dozens of documentaries. pic.twitter.com/HscG2S4dWh

— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) June 5, 2019

Does this mean most conservative religious content / figures that promote gender segregation will be banned? Orthodox Islam, Orthodox Judaism, hell the Vice President of the US and whatever brand of Christianity he follows?https://t.co/nJUom2X4X3 pic.twitter.com/9f7Bwe5goI

— Muhammad Syed (PBUM) (@MoTheAtheist) June 5, 2019

Good to see YouTube taking a stand against "borderline content" without defining what borderline content actually is. Strong policy!https://t.co/oevAgVJOnb pic.twitter.com/ZZWg6Bxr2C

— Ryan Mac (@RMac18) June 5, 2019

(1/4) Thanks again for taking the time to share all of this information with us. We take allegations of harassment very seriously–we know this is important and impacts a lot of people.

— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) June 4, 2019

Apparently, creating and implementing vague, arbitrary censorship standards on the fly in response to mob demands and then purging people en masse end up suppressing and punishing many voices that censorship advocates like. Who could have guessed this would happen? https://t.co/QQjUKR082h

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 6, 2019

Very illuminating thread on how social media censorship destroys the sustainability of independent media. @FordFischer's YouTube page was completely demonetized and a couple videos were removed, one of which was even used in an @PBS documentary https://t.co/g9u0uL0Mox

— Alex Rubinstein (@RealAlexRubi) June 5, 2019

If hate and intolerance and white supremacy is a match, then @YouTube is lighter fluid. This policy announcement, while a step forward, is only the first step. Protection of civil rights must become an operational priority for YouTube to tackle the problem it has created. https://t.co/7uhr19G1nP

— Rashad Robinson (@rashadrobinson) June 5, 2019

Google owns YouTube. First they help the Chinese censor their internet and now this.https://t.co/aqT1vMfF4J

— The Last Raven (@deathandraven) June 5, 2019

"It’s going to get so much worse now. YouTube has publicly stated that racist and homophobic abuse doesn’t violate their anti-bullying policies." https://t.co/rCqhgS7eR9

— Stop Funding Hate (@StopFundingHate) June 5, 2019

YouTube says homophobic abuse does not violate harassment rules https://t.co/1YY6NAgbpc

— nick (@allmodcons70) June 5, 2019

YouTube, like Twitter, always likes to make exceptions for right-wingers. https://t.co/tpCVjdIBHC

— Jonathan "Boo and Vote" Cohn (@JonathanCohn) June 5, 2019

And just in case you're wondering about Youtube's moral high ground. "a pedophile ring that YouTube attempted to shut down in February was not only still operating but also being aided by the company’s own algorithm." https://t.co/u5ynbLIZHu

— Derf Backderf (@DerfBackderf) June 5, 2019

What so calling someone a “lispy queer” and a “token Vox gay atheist sprite” is just how we debate now? https://t.co/5ALcFE3fZp

— Abby Young-Powell (@abbyyoungpowell) June 5, 2019

If I post 30 seconds of a soccer game or other copyrighted material, @YouTube will pull it down

If you are posting materials for pedophiles, or engaged in LGBT harassment, it stays up. https://t.co/D62S4u6Zb7https://t.co/ztK6iZHe3J pic.twitter.com/L2RhK6aica

— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) June 5, 2019

So absurd. https://t.co/36A25up3L2

— Durand D'souza ? (@durand101) June 5, 2019

This is without a doubt one of the best and more nuanced takes I’ve read on the YouTube/Crowder/de-monetization controversy.

Brilliance, as always, from @robbysoave https://t.co/fonrIEiWIv

— Joe Setyon (@JoeSetyon) June 6, 2019

Youtube made a terrible mistake banning @FordFischer, who covers fringe political activist but is not one himself (he's a reporter). This is what can happen when your ban button is too sensitive. https://t.co/BO4oNEjRGt

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) June 6, 2019

Indeed, the ban has already ensnared one undeserving account: Ford Fischer, an independent journalist and co-founder of News2Share. Fischer covers fringe political events, but he is not himself engaged in the kind of behavior YouTube has declared verboten. https://t.co/uiqqkz1DBN

— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) June 6, 2019

“YouTube is in a tough position: If it bans Crowder, conservatives will complain that YouTube is out to silence them, but if it leaves his channel intact, liberals will complain that YouTube is turning a blind eye toward abuse.” https://t.co/p21z7tsSeK

— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) June 6, 2019

My lukewarm take—which will satisfy no one!—is that Steven Crowder's remarks about Carlos Maza were pretty awful and *arguably* prohibited under YouTube's harassment policy, but trying to apply this broadly and fairly is just going to be impossible https://t.co/BO4oNEjRGt

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) June 6, 2019

I do understand why Carlos Maza was furious. The Crowder stuff was extremely mean and borderline obsessive. But... it's a comedian bashing a public figure. (I followed Maza on Twitter today and he blocked me immediately.) https://t.co/BO4oNEjRGt

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) June 6, 2019

YouTube temporarily de-monetized conservative comedian Steven Crowder's video channel over homophobic speech—a course of action that infuriated pretty much everyone https://t.co/BO4oNEjRGt via @reason

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) June 6, 2019

Heartening move ⁦@YouTube⁩.

Remember when the parents of the victims of Sandy Hook had to go into hiding bc Alex Jones claimed it was a hoax?

YouTubers will no longer be able to upload videos denying that these historical events happened.
https://t.co/76zEF5CkG0

— Nina Schick (@NinaDSchick) June 6, 2019

What’s the likelihood of @YouTube removing all the coffee and bleach enema videos? Or any alt med BS by this standard? I’m calling it now: ZEROhttps://t.co/OwjnOLIG4N

— Alice Vaughn (@RationalBlonde) June 5, 2019

BREAKING: YouTube just banned supremacist content, and thousands of channels are about to be removed https://t.co/xQkeoUgWis pic.twitter.com/s2EDztVRoc

— The Verge (@verge) June 5, 2019

YouTube just banned supremacist content, and thousands of channels are about to be removed https://t.co/UokyCiSSEz via @Verge

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) June 5, 2019

YouTube just banned supremacist content, and thousands of channels are about to be removed https://t.co/a86Jf189GM

— Amarnath Amarasingam (@AmarAmarasingam) June 5, 2019

⁦@YouTube⁩ just banned supremacist content, and thousands of channels are about to be removed - Bravo ⁦@SusanWojcicki , ⁩ this is a good start but it does not circumnavigate the need for democratic oversight. https://t.co/Bj1qNmfXmG

— Crispin Hunt (@crispinhunt) June 6, 2019

Hi All, I'm back, and jumping in headfirst.

Have you seen YouTube's new policy? I'm sure this will lead to bad things, but I want to use it for some good.

Please help me ban the male supremacist Turd Flinging Monkey (TFM) from YouTube.

[Thread]https://t.co/de1ENItkRG

— L ? (@drawnoutofshape) June 5, 2019

YouTube just banned supremacist content, and thousands of channels are about to be removed https://t.co/FOIGoxir8e via @Verge

— Marco Rogers (@polotek) June 6, 2019

Can you trace what videos and channels are being removed now, or in the near future, from YouTube? Draw up a list of videos/channels you expect to get removed, and check back on them soon.https://t.co/FZs13XC61P

— Open Source Leads (@OpenSourceLeads) June 5, 2019

#YouTube just banned supremacist content, and thousands of channels are about to be removed https://t.co/8q1MfE2TGQ pic.twitter.com/DfNJQtwY7B

— Mark Robertson ⏩ VidCon (@MarkRRobertson) June 5, 2019

YouTube just banned supremacist content, and thousands of channels are about to be removed. Why isn't Facebook doing this? https://t.co/bFi47I1Z0q via @Verge

— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) June 5, 2019

YouTube just banned supremacist content, and thousands of channels are about to be removed https://t.co/vnmcrySowK via @Verge

— Aric Toler (@AricToler) June 5, 2019

⁦⁦@YouTube⁩ just banned supremacist content, and thousands of channels are about to be removed.

This is a start. “The move is likely to trigger panic among right-wing YouTube channels.” I hope they all get scared and retreat to their holes. https://t.co/YlR8b17KSp

— IamTheLackie (@iamthelackie) June 6, 2019

This is huge. https://t.co/fL3PRv0whx

— Zach Klippenstein (@zachklipp) June 5, 2019

YouTube just banned supremacist content, and thousands of channels are about to be removed - The Verge https://t.co/glV3Fx5t56

— Chris Levesque (@Chris_Levesque_) June 6, 2019