Is YouTube trying to protect China’s ruling party?
For some reason, the comment sections on Google’s YouTube have been automatically removing two Chinese terms used to deride the country’s Communist party: “共匪" (Gong-Fei) and "五毛” (Wu-Mao).
The first term means Communist bandit while the second phrase refers to internet users who covertly work to manipulate public opinion on behalf of China’s government. Try to type either term into YouTube’s comment sections and the post will mysteriously disappear about 30 seconds later.
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Internet users have been noticing the issue as far back as November, when it was reported to YouTube's community page. But on Monday, Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey called attention to the problem to his 70,000 Twitter followers.
“This appears to be a new global policy on YouTube, not directed at me specifically,” Luckey wrote. “Try saying anything negative about the 五毛, or even mentioning them at all. Your comment will last about 30 seconds and get deleted without warning or notice, CCP-(Chinese Communist Party) censor style.”
However, Google is blaming a glitch. "This appears to be an error in our enforcement systems and we are investigating. Users can report suspected issues to troubleshoot errors and help us make product improvements," the company said in a statement.
Despite Google's claim, the automatic takedowns are raising fears that YouTube is censoring the two terms in order to appease China’s government.
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“Who at Google decided to censor American comments on American videos hosted in America by an American platform that is already banned in China?” Luckey added. US Senator Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) is also asking Google to provide an explanation. Meanwhile, US Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) claims the whole incident underscores Google's monopolistic control over the internet. "This is WRONG & Big Tech is drunk with power," he wrote in a tweet.
That said, you can still use English to criticize the Chinese Communist party in the comment sections. PCMag has also noticed you can upload videos with the phrases 共匪 or 五毛 in the clip’s title or in the video description.
The comment removals would also mean little for users in mainland China. Since 2009, the country has been blocking access to YouTube after a video on the platform allegedly showed Chinese security officers beating up a group of Tibetans. To get around the ban, Chinese users have to use a VPN.
Still, YouTube remains accessible in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where citizens have been opposing China's reunification policies. Google was also trying to return to the Chinese market with a censored search engine, but it eventually scrapped the plan amid a public backlash.
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