{"id":14399,"date":"2019-03-07T16:27:33","date_gmt":"2019-03-07T16:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/youtube-under-pressure-to-ban-uk-far-right-activist-after-livestreamed-intimidation.html"},"modified":"2019-03-07T16:27:33","modified_gmt":"2019-03-07T16:27:33","slug":"youtube-under-pressure-to-ban-uk-far-right-activist-after-livestreamed-intimidation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/youtube-under-pressure-to-ban-uk-far-right-activist-after-livestreamed-intimidation.html","title":{"rendered":"YouTube under pressure to ban UK Far Right activist after livestreamed intimidation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The continued presence of a UK Far Right activist on YouTube\u2019s <\/a> platform has been raised by the deputy leader of the official opposition during ministerial questions in the House of Commons today.<\/p>\n

Labour\u2019s Tom Watson put questions to the secretary of state for digital, Jeremy Wright, <\/a> regarding Stephen Yaxley-Lennon\u2019s use of social media for targeted harassment of journalists.<\/p>\n

This follows an incident on Monday night when Yaxley-Lennon used social media tools to livestream himself banging on the doors and windows of a journalist\u2019s home in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery major social media platform other than YouTube has taken down Stephen Yaxley-Lennon\u2019s profile because of his hateful conduct,\u201d said Watson, before recounting how the co-founder of the Far Right English Defence League \u2014 who goes by the made-up name \u2018Tommy Robinson\u2019 on social media \u2014 used social media livestreaming tools to harass journalist Mike Stuchbery on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Stuchbery has since written about the incident for the Independent<\/em><\/a> newspaper.<\/p>\n

\n

A journalist intimidated at home at 5am, live streamed. Women colleagues facing rape and death threats installing panic buttons. The torrent of online abuse undermines democracy and free speech. We must act to stop the online world turning into a cesspit of hate. pic.twitter.com\/6G4fSjEue7<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tom Watson (@tom_watson) March 7, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

As we reported on Monday<\/a>, Facebook removed the livestream for violating its policies after it was reported but not before Stuchbery had received a flood of abusive messages from other Facebook <\/a> users who were watching the stream online.<\/p>\n

Yaxley-Lennon appears to have been able to circumvent Facebook\u2019s ban on his own account to livestream his intimidation of Stuchbery via Facebook Live by using another Facebook account with a fake name (which the company appears to have since suspended).<\/p>\n

Following the incident Stuchbery has reported<\/a> receiving physical hate mail to his home address, which Yaxley-Lennon gave out during the livestream (an intimidation tactic that\u2019s known as doxxing). He has also said he\u2019s received further abuse online.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes the secretary of state think that it is right that YouTube, and the parent company Alphabet, <\/a> continues to give this man a platform?\u201d asked Watson, after highlighting another vlog Yaxley-Lennon has since uploaded to YouTube in which he warns other journalists \u201cto expect a knock at the door\u201d.<\/p>\n

Wright responded by saying that \u201call Internet companies, all platforms for this kind of speech need to take their responsibilities seriously\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that YouTube will consider this very carefully,\u201d he told the House of Commons. \u201cConsider what [Yaxley-Lennon] has said. What I have said, and reconsider their judgement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all believe in freedom of speech. But we all believe too that that freedom of speech has limits,\u201d Wright added. \u201cAnd we believe that those who seek to intimidate others, to potentially of course break the law\u2026 that is unacceptable. That is beyond the reach of the type of freedom of speech that we believe should be protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve reached out to YouTube for comment.<\/p>\n

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon was banned by Facebook last month for repeat violations of its policies on hate speech. While Twitter banned Yaxley-Lennon a full year ago.<\/p>\n

But he remains active on YouTube \u2014 where his channel has more than 350,000 subscribers.<\/p>\n

The company has resisted calls to shutter his account, claiming the content Yaxley-Lennon posts to its platform is different to content he has posted elsewhere and thus that he has not broken any of its rules. (Though YouTube did demonetize videos on his channel in January saying they violated its ad policies.)<\/p>\n

In a follow up question, Watson raised the issue of online harassment more widely \u2014 asking whether the government would be including measures \u201cto prevent hate figures, extremists and their followers from turning the online world into a cesspit of hate\u201d in its forthcoming White Paper on social media and safety, which it\u2019s due to publish this winter \u2014 and thereby tackle a culture of hate and harassment online that he said is undermining democracy.<\/p>\n

Wright said he would \u201cconsider\u201d Watson\u2019s suggestion though he stress the government must protect the ability for people to carry out robust debate online \u2014 and \u201cto discuss issues that are sometimes uncomfortable and certainly controversial\u201d.<\/p>\n

But he went on to reiterate his earlier point that \u201cno freedom of speech can survive in this country if we do not protect\u2026 people\u2019s ability to feel free to say what they think, free of intimidation, free of the threat of violence\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who engage in intimidation or threats of violence should not find succour either online or anywhere else,\u201d the minister added.<\/p>\n

YouTube\u2019s own community guidelines<\/a> prohibit \u201charassment and cyberbullying\u201d. So its continued silence on Yaxley-Lennon\u2019s misuse of its tools does look inconsistent. (YouTube previously banned<\/a> the InfoWars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for violating its policies, for example, and there\u2019s more than a passing resemblance between the two \u2018hate preachers\u2019).<\/p>\n

Moreover, as Watson noted in parliament, Yaxley-Lennon\u2019s most recent video contains a direct threat to doorstep and doxx journalists who covered his harassment of Stuchbery. The video also contains verbal abuse targeted at Stuchbery. However YouTube told us the video does not violate its policies.<\/p>\n

In one of the livestreams recorded outside Stuchbery\u2019s home Yaxley-Lennon can also be heard making allegations about Stuchbery\u2019s sexual interests that the journalist has described as defamatory.<\/p>\n

YouTube previously declined to make a statement about Yaxley-Lennon\u2019s continued presence on its platform. It has not responded to our repeat requests for follow up comment about the issue since Monday.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll update this post if it does provide a statement following the government\u2019s call to rethink its position on giving Yaxley-Lennon a platform.<\/p>\n

This post was updated with information from YouTube regarding Yaxley-Lennon\u2019s latest video<\/em><\/p>\n

Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunch\/social\/~3\/iokBH35lD5E\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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