[charbroiled]

Stated purpose of law: prohibits advocating genocide.

Actual effect of law: prohibits preserving evidence of genocide.

I know there’s, broadly speaking, a difference in how freedom of speech is defined in America versus Europe. The (slightly inflammatory) description above is why I personally find the “European” definition distasteful.

[nine_k]

Yes, this is one of the most important problems with well-meaning censorship.

Objectionable content should not be deleted, but instead clearly marked, and possibly require some extra verification steps to access. But it should not be deleted and forgotten, if for nothing else then as an evidence for future crime investigations.

[raxxorraxor]

The protections of speech in the US are exemplary and I think Europe needs to move in that direction.

Some countries try to penalize insults because they undermine dignity, but I believe that not to be the case necessarily and the paternalizing approach can be even worse for that. In practice, if you look at online discussion, half of the population would be criminals and repeat offenders for that matter.

Most often these restrictions are indeed well-meaning, but not in every case and there are side effects you are describing.

Antisemitism got bad again, but it is restricted to a certain demographic and I don't like the idea to reduce rights because there are some problem actors.

[MattPalmer1086]

A publication platform is not an archive. Those videos don't just disappear if they aren't uploaded to YouTube. They aren't as accessible to absolutely everyone of course.

On a slightly different legal note, it's not entirely clear to me what evidential value videos uploaded to YouTube have. Providence would be tricky to establish.

Does anyone know if YouTube videos have ever been used as legal evidence in court before?

[nine_k]

You don't necessarily need to know who the video's author or uploader is. It may be sufficient to see what is depicted, when, and where.

Incriminating YouTube videos have been admitted in criminal courts many times; e.g.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2109698/Gary-Johnso...

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/crime/2013/09/11/court-c...

https://www.nycourts.gov/JUDGES/evidence/9-AUTHENTICITY/9.14... (page 4)

https://www.occriminaldefenseattorney.com/blog/youtube-used-...

[MattPalmer1086]

Interesting, thanks!

[renegat0x0]

Isn't that part of the desired effect / goal?