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Tokyo Demands YouTube Play Fair

Posted by Zonk on from the when-no-one-is-special-everyone-is dept.

eldavojohn writes "Recently, the city government of Tokyo has requested that political speeches to be pulled from YouTube, claiming that it gave certain hopefuls an advantage over others for Sunday's election. You may recall YouTube being in trouble with more than a few countries in the past. 'Japanese election law limits the broadcasting of speeches, which are aired only on public broadcaster NHK. Soon after the race kicked off last month, the speech by one fringe candidate, street musician Koichi Toyama, 36, has become a popular attraction on YouTube due to his eccentric, confrontational approach.' Is it fair that some government officials are being viewed more on YouTube than others or is it simply leveling the playing field for anyone with a message since it costs very little to put a video on YouTube?"

6 of 239 comments (clear)

  1. GooTube, do NOT bend to this pressure! by garcia · · Score: 1, Troll

    I'm pretty pissed off that GooTube pulled the first video. Fuck that entire country and their King. The Internet isn't a place for censorship for the benefit of government officials. If the entire country bans the site, tough fucking shit, we aren't going to miss them.

    YouTube staff should NOT be bending to this type of political pressure. What, we going to have the White House say that GooTube can't post videos of George falling over, looking like a monkey, acting like a horse's ass, or mispronouncing words because he's the President?

    Give me a break.

    1. Re:GooTube, do NOT bend to this pressure! by garcia · · Score: 0, Troll

      Flamebait? Because I believe that Google should stand up to political pressure? Give me a break.

    2. Re:GooTube, do NOT bend to this pressure! by garcia · · Score: 1, Troll

      By "standing up to political pressure" do you mean "obeying the laws of a country in which they seek to make a profit"?

      Let the dominoes fall.

    3. Re:GooTube, do NOT bend to this pressure! by computational+super · · Score: 1, Troll

      Are you suggesting that they never pull any videos, or that they pick and choose which videos they pull (which is essentially what they did with Thailand and what they'll do with Japan here)? The actual fact is that, when it comes to foreign laws, they can decide which ones to follow. But what about the laws in their home country (America)? There are quite a few video images that are extremely illegal here; I suspect YouTube's owners could face jail time if they didn't pull those ones. And there are quite a few more video images, which, if you make available to minors, you can face fines or even jail time. Are you suggesting that they should be immune from those laws, too? (BTW, if you are, then I agree with you - this case, the Thailand case, the eBay nazi propaganda case, and thousands of other such cases underscore the underlying stupidity behind the concept of censorship).

      --
      Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
  2. to be precise... by justthisdude · · Score: 0, Troll
    The majority of people reading this comment are my Sworn Enemies!

    Feel free to Mod me down. Nothing is accomplished through modding!

    I have one thing to say just in case...

    If I am modded up,

    they will be terrified.

    I myself will be terrified.

    --
    "I love his boyish charm, but I hate his childishness" - Leela
  3. Re:Japan demands Play Fair? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    You're American, right? I have trouble believing anyone else, excepting religious fanatics, could be so arrogant and so ignorant at the same time.