YouTube censoring profanity in comments.
Jul9Written by:
2009/07/09 04:30 PM 
You might have noticed that YouTube had an abundance of ****'s on the comments. You might have also noticed that when you post some of the languages more clever words they might have been replaced by asterisks as well. What has happened? Well YouTube have started censoring profanity in comments.
This has started somewhat of an outcry. People are crying about their freedom of speech. People have a right to cuss or swear or utter whatever profanity they desire, or do they? Why is Google censoring the comments, many have asked? FREE SPEECH means we get to SPEAK how we want.
But really if you think of it, free speech does not give you the right to cuss and swear in my house or my space. That's not free speech. In fact your freedom ends where my freedom begins.
YouTube is not censoring you. However, the owner (e.g. uploader) of a video has total control over what comments are and are not allowed. If that individual doesn't like what you're saying, he/she can remove or censor your comment.
The YouTube Profanity Filter might not catch every thing, or they might filter out words that are clearly not profane. These things will need to be worked out, and I am certain that the engineers at Google are applying their minds to this. Give it some time and I think it will be a benefit to us all.
It just amazes me that people can’t say anything worthwhile without swearing or using some form of profanity. Usually the more people swear, the more it is an indication that they have a lesser command of their chosen language. Just because you can’t express yourself adequately in your chosen language doesn’t mean you must swear. But then that's just my opinion.
If you still want to see the profanity, you can. Just uncheck the default setting. Uncheck the box for "Hide profanity in comments" by clicking "Options" next to Text Comments and it’s a done deal. So clearly it’s not Google who are censoring the comments. They have just enabled the users to do so. Admittedly it is censored by default. So, if you want some complete stranger to swear at you, go ahead.
What do you think of this new move? Leave your thoughts in the comment below.
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