Rand Paul quits YouTube over ‘despicable’ censorship
Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) has announced that he will no longer be posting content on YouTube, branding the Google-owned platform as the “worst censors” among a host of “Big Tech gatekeepers” that “silenced” opposing views.
Penning his thoughts in an op-ed for the Washington Examiner on Monday, Paul noted that the move would be part of a bigger “exodus” from the “new town square” of “Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram” over rampant censorship and an “almost religious adherence to the edicts of government bureaucrats.”
“Just because private censorship of speech is allowable under the law, that doesn’t make that censorship any less despicable or illiberal,” Paul wrote, adding that he would be posting video content on rumble.com, an alternative platform that has gained popularity with creators dissatisfied with Big Tech companies’ misinformation policies.
Last year, the outspoken lawmaker received two strikes on his YouTube channel, leading to temporary account suspensions in August and September, for what the platform alleged were violations of its policy regarding Covid-19 misinformation. But Paul countered that the company had “the gall to delete constitutionally protected speech” by taking down his videos challenging prevailing narratives.
It is indeed ironic that the censors likely think of themselves as progressive but their actions are more suggestive of the diktats of the Medieval church.
“In the US in 2021, you are being told there are ideas or opinions that are too ‘dangerous’ for you to see,” Paul said, taking aim at “loud voices” in Congress “on the Left and the Right” who say they want to “break up or regulate Big Tech” without stepping up and doing something about it.
While describing the departure as his “New Year’s resolution,” Paul said he may still post videos on YouTube in order to “criticize them” or promote the competition. He encouraged “other liberty lovers” to follow suit and take their business elsewhere.
“About half of the public leans right,” he noted, adding that if, instead of “conforming to [Big Tech’s] approved opinions,” they “all took our messaging to outlets of free exchange, we could cripple Big Tech in a heartbeat.”
