For a company that knows way too much about everyone else, Google shows shockingly little self-awareness. We were struck recently by the willful ignorance of their article “Rituals for hypergrowth: An inside look at how YouTube scaled.” The piece is written by Shishir Mehrotra, the former Google VP of Engineering... Read more
In case you had any doubt how YouTube feels about artists, the company made its views clear in November with a sneaky alteration to how it monetizes videos. If you were among those who always thought that YouTube feels nothing for artists, this news proved you were 100% correct! “Starting... Read more
Big Tech companies have a knack for wielding the “free speech” argument as a shield to avoid tackling the systemic criminal behavior on their platforms. This tendency bleeds into the realms of copyright disputes and content protection, where Big Tech’s deep-pocketed, anti-copyright advocacy network often vilifies efforts to fight piracy... Read more
By Ruth Vitale
YouTube is losing the battle against toxic content. A recent Wired article details the algorithmic tweaks that YouTube implemented after the 2017 mass-shooting in Las Vegas sparked a wave of false-flag videos on its platform. The terrible behavior of some of its users following a national tragedy compelled YouTube to embark on nothing... Read more
By Justin Sanders
With all the deserved flak YouTube has accrued in recent years, it can be easy to forget that a free video platform where anyone can broadcast their talents to the world is not without upside. There are hidden gems from people all across the creative industries who will never, for whatever reason,... Read more
Dear YouTube Human Resources, We were recently, as we are wont to do, whiling away the hours by reading the YouTube Creator Blog (not really), and came across CEO Susan Wojcicki’s post titled “Preserving Openness Through Responsibility.” We were dismayed to find numerous misstatements and errors, along with passages in which... Read more
By Justin Sanders
Meet Mitchell Block. He is the owner of Direct Cinema Limited, a production and distribution company specializing in under-the-radar documentaries, shorts, and other independent films that are only available through the company’s catalog. Block is a curator of the obscure and the avant-garde. His titles play frequently in colleges and libraries... Read more
By Ruth Vitale
Say what you will about YouTube, but one thing is certain – they’ve got chutzpah. It’s not just on another level. Heck, it’s in another dimension. Consider the extent to which the Google-owned video behemoth has gone to spread fake news and harmful misinformation. And how it has enabled and rewarded... Read more
By Philippe Carcassonne and Ruth Vitale
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki is the protagonist in a propaganda war about the new EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. One of the directive’s stated aims was to ensure that hosting sites such as YouTube step up to their responsibility to discourage the uploading of creative copyright... Read more
By: Mitchell Block
In 1973, fresh out of film school, I wrote and directed the dramatic short No Lies, an important film because of its open, and unfettered, discussion of sexual violence against women. Today, No Lies is included in the National Registry and in the curriculum for film theory, women’s studies, and anthropology... Read more