YouTube Remonetizes Ben Shapiro Video Calling Out Big Tech Censorship
By Movieguide® Contributor
YouTube was forced to remonetize the first video of conservative commentator Ben Shapiro’s new FACTS series after initially alleging that it broke their terms of service by spreading a dangerous conspiracy theory.
The reversal came after Shapiro, the Media Research Center, and Free Speech America pressed YouTube about the specifics of the demonetization.
“In order for a video to monetize on YouTube it must comply with our advertiser-friendly guidelines, which are publicly accessible and apply to all creators,” a YouTube spokesperson told Free Speech America. “Upon review, the video in question is currently monetizing.”
Ironically, the demonetized episode addressed the seen and unseen forces behind the monetization and demonetization of media on sites like Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The episode focused on the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), which controls 90% of global marketing communications.
“There’s a group of people who control what you are allowed to see, the news you read, the videos you watch, the posts you engage with,” Shapiro explained in the episode. “You haven’t heard of them. You don’t know their names, but they determine through methods, both direct and indirect whether you are allowed to be exposed to particular messages. Their decisions can bankrupt companies, silence voices, and fundamentally shift culture norms.”
YouTube claimed that he was spreading a conspiracy theory by discussing the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), an initiative by the WFA to classify media topics as “safe” or “unsafe.”
“Except nothing in the video is a conspiracy theory at all,” Shapiro responded on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Watch for yourself and get the facts about who is controlling ad revenue on YouTube and all the largest Big Tech platforms – including this one.”
Ironically, YouTube has suppressed monetization for Episode 1 of my new YouTube series, Facts, because it “discusses New World Order, which is a non-monetizable ‘conspiracy theory’ under [YouTube’s] Dangerous Acts in ad-friendly guidelines.”
Except nothing in the video is a… pic.twitter.com/rPj5d1JhA2
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 10, 2023
To understand how the companies that control ad revenue influence the spread of media on the internet, one need not look further than Shapiro’s FACTS videos.
The first video in the series, which discusses the WFA and had limited monetization, was released about two weeks ago and currently has 281,000 views. The second video in the series, discussing how China is failing, was released two days ago and has 547,000 views as of this writing.
While not completely responsible for the discrepancy in views, the demonetization of the first video plays a significant role in the difference between the number of views.
Because YouTube is supported by ad revenue, the platform is only incentivized to promote videos that can generate ad revenue. Therefore, videos like Shapiro’s that are flagged and demonetized get nearly zero promotion from YouTube’s algorithm.
Every website and social media platform supported by ad revenue follows a similar model.
“I think the solution here is to price so-called ‘safe’ advertising higher than ‘unsafe,’” Elon Musk suggested in response to the situation. “My companies will happily buy the latter.”
Shapiro responded, saying, “‘Safe’ and ‘unsafe’ are dog whistles designed to enable censorship and demonetize ‘wrongthink.’”
1/ “Safe” and “unsafe” are dog whistles designed to enable censorship and demonetize “wrongthink.”https://t.co/tt1v6BWJh2
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 11, 2023
“GARM has subjective guidelines for what it considers ‘safe’ for advertising, and its corporate partners seem to be interpreting these convoluted rules to fit a narrative,” he continued.
Shapiro went on to show how liberal-supported issues like dressing in drag or transitioning genders are ‘safe’ topics for brands, even when sexualized to the extreme, while people who discuss how to lovingly address transgender issues while adhering to biblical teachings are labeled as “unsafe” and removed from social media platforms.
6/ But GARM member @YouTube apparently thinks @MichaelJKnowles discussing loving ways to respond to gender confused young people is so “unsafe” they deleted it from their platform. pic.twitter.com/6wVuzK00px
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 11, 2023
“These guidelines aren’t designed to keep brands ‘safe,’ but to advance a specific (and extreme) narrative. The mass implementation of these ‘brand safety’ guidelines demands serious scrutiny,” Shapiro concluded his post.
While Shapiro’s first FACTS video was eventually remonetized, the initial pushback from YouTube highlights the problem that the video was made to expose.
Movieguide® previously reported on Shapiro:
Conservative author and speaker Ben Shapiro recently responded to a CBC article that suggests that his views are a “slippery slope” leading to even more harmful and extremist views found online.
“Here comes the media attempt to get me banned from social media,” Shapiro posted on Twitter “They can’t name which views of mine are particularly radical, so they just go for the ‘I’m radicalizing the youths…”
Shapiro responded to the CBC piece’s claim of misogyny and promotion of toxic masculinity by further tweeting, “Those views apparently include ‘objectification of women,’ which is a strange charge to level against an Orthodox Jew who promotes virginity until marriage.”
He continued, “What, precisely, are my Bad Views about masculinity? That men should be responsible? That they should get jobs, get married, and take care of their children? Sounds Very Very Bad!”
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