YouTube removes work with artistic nudity claiming it fails to conform with community standards
February 23, 2010 by donal brown
Filed under 1st Amendment News, Freedom of Speech / Press, News & Opinion
The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the National Coailtion Against Censorship is asking YouTube to restore the work of renowned video artist Amy Greenfield to YouTube. YouTube removed her work with some nudity claiming it failed to satisfy YouTube Community Guidelines. -db
February 22, 2010
By Kurt Opsahl
Today EFF and the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) wrote to YouTube, asking the video hosting giant to reconsider its removal of the work of internationally recognized video artist Amy Greenfield.
Amy Greenfield received notice from YouTube that her works, which contain some artistic nudity, did not conform with YouTube’s “community standards.” Under YouTube’s policies, “films andtelevision shows may contain [full nudity]; however, videos originating from the YouTube user community must abide by the YouTube Community Guidelines and are not permitted to include such content.” (emphasis in original).
When video artists present works that have clear artistic, political or educational merit, YouTube should allow the artist to post the material with at least the same freedom as major studio films and television. If a user community video is flagged as inappropriate, YouTube should at least have an appeals process to allow an artist to explain the artistic merit. While we understand YouTube’s desire to keep pornography off its servers, it must also understand that not all nude art is pornographic.
YouTube, owned by Google, exerts censorship by allowing special interest groups to flag and block videos that don’t agree with their world view. This is especially true regarding animal protection (animal rights). There are many gruesome videos on YouTube depicting animal abuse for the sake of voyeurism and sadism, but videos documenting animal abuse (oftentimes, far less graphically) with the intent of educating and inspiring a call to action are routinely flagged by those who search through YouTube with the intention of subverting animal welfare causes. See my petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/249340493