Last Updated on August 28, 2019
Update: The Iconoclast and Way of the World’s channels are back on YouTube for now.
National File spoke with The Iconoclast who was completely unaware that his channel with 212,000 subscribers had reappeared on YouTube.
The Iconoclast told National File that YouTube seemed to have reinstated his channel without any notice at all.
Way of the World, another big YouTuber, whose account vanished on the same day, has also been returned to the platform.
This comes a day after YouTube boss, Susan Wojcicki, expressed the platform’s commitment to freedom of speech.
Directly after the removal of these YouTube channel, there was significant pushback on social media drawing attention to the increased censoriousness of YouTube.
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As the wave of social media censorship continues, another big name–or scalp–has been claimed by Big Tech.
It was announced on Facebook that prominent British YouTuber, The Iconoclast, who amassed a large following of over 200,000 on the platform, recently had his entire channel deleted.
The Iconoclast produced dozens of high quality videos covering sociopolitical currents in Europe, with some attracting hundreds of thousands of views.
The Iconoclast was one of many creators on the so-called ‘Dissident’ Right to have been demonetized amid a wave of censorship after updating their Terms of Service, in June this year.
In late 2017, The Iconoclast had his Twitter account suspended for an alleged breach of their Terms of Service.
Alternative platforms have emerged following the increasing limitations on freedom of speech imposed by Big Tech companies, who have been accused of political bias.
Since Donald Trump’s election in 2016, the purpose, scope, and function of social media companies has been called into question as to whether they merely act as a private company or if they should be subject to updated forms of regulation, given their role in influencing narratives and search algorithms to bring about certain social ends.
Although the topic of social media censorship, and its alleged bias against those on the the right, has been hotly contested over the past two years; little has been reached in order to protect freedom of speech on these platforms.
The French and German governments have colluded with Big Tech companies to minimize the dissemination of so-called ‘fake news’ or hate speech–indicating certain political interests behind staunching the unfettered flow of information on the internet.
Populist movements throughout the Western World are on the rise. 2020 will prove to be a momentous year as many Western countries stand at existential crossroads. Many of the issues affecting the West have been made controversial due to ostracizing labels of ‘hate speech’ or ‘racism’.
Removing opinions from one platform will lead to a mushrooming effect–with the rise of alternative platforms such as Gab and Bitchute–to create a release valve for views which cannot be expressed elsewhere.
