BitChute describes itself as a ‘free speech’ website but report accuses it of platforming ‘hate and terror’, Lizzie Dearden reports. As mainstream social media platforms respond to pressure to ban extremists, the far right has found a new home for “hate and terror”. BitChute describes itself as a “free speech” website, but researchers say it is has become a major platform for neo-Nazi videos, racism, violence, conspiracy theories and even terrorist propaganda. It is one of several “alternative” social media companies capitalising on mainstream takedowns, including Russian Facebook-equivalent VK, Twitter alternative Parler and the Gab network. A report by counter-extremism research group Hope Not Hate said BitChute was “platforming hate and terror in the UK”. Author Gregory Davis described it as a version of “YouTube where you can get away with posting violent, Nazi and dangerous content”. “It is taking an increasingly large share of Nazi propaganda and really out-there Covid-19 conspiracy theories, including documentaries that question the existence of the virus,” he told The Independent.“The videos are predominantly far right, racist and homophobic … if you look on its trending list on any given day, you will see what people go there to watch.”
via independent: Inside the UK-based site that has become the far right’s YouTube
siehe auch: Bitchute exists to circumvent the moderation of mainstream platforms, and is an increasingly important hub for terrorist propaganda, incitement to racist violence and COVID-19 misinformation. Over recent months HOPE not hate has watched with increasing alarm as violent, racist and harmful videos are posted on social media platforms using the video-sharing platform BitChute as their host – circumventing the ban that most major platforms have placed on the sharing of this content. Bitchute is a UK-based video-sharing platform – founded by tech entrepreneur Ray Vahey in 2017 – whose stated purpose was to offer a platform for content that had been banned from other sites. Vahey said that his idea for the site came from: “seeing the increased levels of censorship by the large social media platforms in the last couple of years. Bannings, demonetization, and tweaking algorithms to send certain content into obscurity and wanting to do something about it.” With this as a core mission, it comes as little surprise that the site has attracted a vast array of vile – and often illegal – content. This report shows: That absence of moderation and willingness to host hateful content is the unique selling point of the platform That the platform is dominated by content and producers that have been, or would be, removed from other platforms That BitChute is knowingly playing host to terrorist propaganda and incitement to violence. Our research has identified 114 videos in support of proscribed terrorist groups on BitChute, including 23 videos in support of National Action and 86 videos promoting the Islamic State group That BitChute actively promotes conspiracy theories and misinformation
