Exploring Biased Censorship on YouTube: The Case of Islam and Jihad

[arildno]

If you type in the phrase "Christianity is" in the search field of youtube, unsurprisingly, you'll get suggestions like:
"Christianity is fake", "Christianity is bullsh*t" and so on.

Similarly with typing in "buddhism is", "judaism is", "communism is", "capitalism is".

If you, however, type in "Islam is", NO suggestions whatsoever pops up!


In fact, take just the word "Islam" as your searchword:

The ONLY suggestions given by youtube are like he following:
"islamic miracles", "islamic songs", "islamic lectures"

 

[xxChrisxx]

This is a problem with the google search engine in general.

 

[leroyjenkens]

I noticed that on Google too. They're spineless.

 

[arildno]

This is a problem with the google search engine in general.

"in general", in respect to what?

Mere randomness, or selective hiding of any, and every, possibly islam-insulting phrase?

 

[xxChrisxx]

"in general", in respect to what?

Mere randomness, or selective hiding of any, and every, possibly islam-insulting phrase?

As in all things that use the google search engine, it's not just youtube.

 

[D H]

Try typing "jihad is " (i.e., a space after "is") in the google search pane and see what suggestions pop up.

 

[arildno]

Try typing "jihad is " (i.e., a space after "is") in the google search pane and see what suggestions pop up.

Good one!

I only got suggestions like "jihad is ordained for you", "jihad is our way".

 

[xxChrisxx]

Google have said this is a 'bug' in the search engine.

If that's the truth then I'm a f****** cabbage.

 

[arildno]

They haven't got around yet to censor a search phrase like: "muhammad was a "

 

[leroyjenkens]

They haven't got around yet to censor a search phrase like: "muhammad was a "

Well they better get on it; those peaceful Muslim leaders may soon call for them to be brutally murdered.

 

[rootX]

Aren't there things better than searching "Islam is ... "?

We already have some many troubles related to Islam/Jihad while none critical for Christianity, Buddhism, ... Hopefully after 20-30 years, you will be able to see in the "Islam is ..." search what you were looking for.

 

[waht]

If you type "Islam will" or "Islam must" on google and youtube, the list of suggestions becomes pretty heavy.

Islam will dominate the world

Islam must be destroyed

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/techno...004517/islam-is-not-being-censored-by-google/So it would appear "Islam is" is just a bug. According to the article, if they wanted to censor Islam wouldn't they censor that too?

 

[leroyjenkens]

So it would appear "Islam is" is just a bug. According to the article, if they wanted to censor Islam wouldn't they censor that too?

And also every other verb that could possibly come after "Islam".
According to Google it's a bug. Just because it's on the Google website, doesn't mean Google as a whole is censoring it. It could be just one person working for them who's censoring it.
It might be censoring and it might not. But it's not a big deal unless they're removing anti-Islamic websites and keeping other anti-religious websites.

 

[arildno]

The argument in the article is idiotic:

Unless the censorship is total and completely effective, there hasn't been any attempt at censorship. Therefore, since "Islam must" turns up with negative following words, this PROVES there never was any censorship going on.

It is the premise that is false here.

"is" is the MOST COMMON verb in English, and that THEREFORE, ought to turn up a lot more suggestions than "will" or "must" or "can".

 

[MotoH]

It's nice to see that no one cares about the bashing of Christianity, but it is a huge deal if the muslims get treated badly on google. /sarcasm

 

[arildno]

And also every other verb that could possibly come after "Islam".
According to Google it's a bug. Just because it's on the Google website, doesn't mean Google as a whole is censoring it. It could be just one person working for them who's censoring it.
It might be censoring and it might not. But it's not a big deal unless they're removing anti-Islamic websites and keeping other anti-religious websites.

As it happened, Pat Condell was suspended from Youtube due to a concerted effort of whining muzzies.

He was re-instated by a counter-campaign.


While blatant Islamic hate speech and jihad glorifications are proliferating om Youtube, a number of specifically anti-Islamic posters have been banned.


So, stronger forms ofselective bias operates at Youtube.

 

[arildno]

After 3 weeks or so of intensely arduous programming, it seems that the top-notch programmers at Google have finally fixed the "bug".

 

[BobG]

Try typing "jihad is " (i.e., a space after "is") in the google search pane and see what suggestions pop up.

There's four types of jihad: Jihad against one's self (Jihad al-Nafs), Jihad of the tongue (Jihad al-lisan), Jihad of the hand (Jihad al-yad), and Jihad of the sword (Jihad as-sayf).

Obviously, jihad of the sword is the type that would receive the most notoriety among non-Muslims. Somehow, the frequency each term is used is debateable. Some people say jihad (with no qualifiers) almost always applies to jihad of the sword (it does to non-Muslim Westerners, at least) and some say you can't just assume jihad refers to jihad of the sword. Not being Muslim, I couldn't really say.