I am a video blogger. Last Wednesday July15 morning, as I started my daily task of blogging while at work –a great benefit I get by working with progressive people- I decided to upload a video that I prepared the previous night, but when I tried to open my Youtube channel, a message on my screen crushed me in disbelief: “This account is suspended.”
Blogs, internet videos, independent online radio, instant messaging websites and other online tools for social media have become already essential and necessary ways for people to learn about world news, current topics, and to organize themselves in order to take action on issues that affect all of us directly.
Although the United States ranks15th among industrialized nations in broadband access, and is the only industrialized country without a national high-speed Internet policy –according to the AFL CIO- but during the 2008 presidential elections blogs changed politics and helped the election of Barack Obama. That same phenomenon is seeing in some other countries in the world.
Youtube has become a big part of such change and innovation in mass media communication, and it has been an outstanding and important tool for bloggers around the world to expose crimes, denounce injustice, promote ideas, share knowledge, change the world or just to share a joke, learn how to dance or watch a missed TV show. So I joined Youtube in January 2007 but I wasn’t aware of the exciting journey that awaited me ahead. Since I speak two languages and I write about two countries: United States and Peru, I created two channels. CarlosQC and Peruanista became my personal hubs to show the world what I saw.
My first videos posted in Youtube were made to help local community events in Washington, DC, and to promote Peruvian traditions among the Peruvian American community in this city. However, I started making videos where I spoke my mind on current issues, arts, politics and topics especially related to social justice in Peru, immigrants’ rights in the U.S. and human rights in Latin America. I am passionate about fighting against racism, discrimination, injustice and human exploitation everywhere. I am a believer, you can say that.
Hundreds of hours were spent to film, edit and publish hundreds of videos, and all of them were made by me alone and without any kind of support, with some exceptions where friends pitched in. This tow-year process required a lot of effort and sacrifice, as I spent my time and money without any kind of financial support. I did this without breaking the law even when I used music and photos from few artists, there were always notified previously or after. However I only received one formal complain: the embassy of Peru in Washington, DC, about a video on free trade policies.
Because of my blogs I met and interviewed hundreds of politicians, artists, writers, Congress members, national political figures, community activists, dancers, workers, students, journalists, foreign ministers, actors, bloggers, thinkers, and regular folks who always had something interesting to say. They are people from the U.S., Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Belgium, Congo, Jamaica, Ethiopia, Spain, Japan, Puerto Rico, Canada.
I am not completely sure exactly how many videos I produced –perhaps 200 or more- and many of them became very popular, especially among people who are also into media and politics. An average of 5,000 people watched each of my videos, some got over 40,000 hits and others just as low as 500 views. I was glad to see that they were making an impact, especially when I posted dozens of videos related to a tragic massacre in Peru.
Last June 5, a horrendous crime was committed by the current government of Peru when it sent police forces to the Bagua region and attacked a pacific protest of Amazonian Indigenous peoples who opposed its economic policies. Hundreds of people were killed, including civilians and policemen.
Since 2007 I wrote in my blog Peruanista about the possibility of these violent attacks, as the government of Peru signed free trade agreements that allow for multinational corporations to extract natural resources in protected areas of the Peruvian Andes and Amazon regions. The Bagua genocide is directly related to the U.S.-Peru FTA, and my videos helped to inform about a tragedy that most media in Peru and the U.S. initially ignored. Over 25 protests were organized worldwide in front of Peruvian embassies, and online websites posted news about this. Eventually the Peruvian government had to revoke free trade decrees and stop violence against Native peoples.
Because of my work as a video blogger and writer I feel that I am making a difference. I have been invited to a private panel on citizen media and the Obama administration, also to a couple of national bloggers conferences in the United States, and my work was praised by non-profit organizations and newspapers both in the U.S. and Peru. My videos have been used as a reference by TV stations and newspapers, international forums like the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, also by official websites of politicians, organizations, community groups, activists and online newspapers in the U.S., Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Spain and El Salvador.
All of this work has been deleted by Youtube, without previous notice, nothing. It took two days for Youtube to respond to my complaining emails:
from Copyright Service to qc.carlos@gmail.com
date Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 1:39 PM
Dear Carlos,
Your YouTube account has been suspended due to repeated or severe violations of our Terms of Use and/or claims of copyright infringement. Suspended accounts cannot be reinstated. / Please view our Terms of Use: […]
Sincerely,
Justin
The YouTube Team
That’s it. Sounds to me like “Sorry Carlos, your videos are nothing, we owe your work, we rule and you obey, sincerely.”
Why would Youtube do something like this? Since Google corporation bought Youtube in 2006, things have changed in that website. Many think is not always for the best. I like the technology improvements but I dislike the for-profit attitude it got, including the manipulation of hits per videos and how they promote certain videos and almost hide others.
What used to be a powerful independent website is now a window for corporate and government advertising, and little by little, they are becoming almost like a regulated traditional media. During the 2008 U.S. presidential elections and important events alike, Youtube opened special channels for political bloggers to submit their videos. Then Time Warner Inc. launched iReport, a webpage dedicated to citizen journalism where people can send videos, pictures and stories through its CNN news site. MSNBC and Fox have copied the idea somehow and many more are following the example. President Obama has a Youtube channel where the White House posts videos of his speeches, also.
But during the Bagua massacre in Peru – which again involved the U.S.-Peru free trade agreement with president Obama defended as a candidate- Youtube looked the other way around. Who cares you might think, but we are talking about the people who live in the Amazon forest, the last lungs of the planet and where Indigenous peoples still live with their own traditions, respecting our environment.
Somehow my videos helped to create awareness about such a horrendous crime taking place in Peru. A Facebook group with over 6,000 people was born and hundreds of email messages of support arrived to my inbox. Youtube not only ignored the protests in Peru that many in the world watched online, but now it has deleted those videos.
A week after the current Peru crisis exploded, Youtube created the channel CitizenTube dedicated almost exclusively to the Iran elections riots. They pretend to care about democracy and freedom, as long as they are for people who follow the U.S. government rule. That explains why Youtube ignores many other world humanitarian crises like the current genocides and the struggles of the displaced peoples in Congo, Sudan, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, China, Colombia, Nigeria, Yemen, Haiti, Chechnya, India, Peru and places in the world where democracy is almost non existent and where human rights are dangerous things to demand.
In the name of freedom of speech, Youtube allows hateful groups like neo Nazis, anti immigrant Minutemen, racist KKK and alike, to post disgusting videos with violent messages. Apparently there are not enough complains against those. At the same time Youtube has created channels like Youtube Reporters’ Center, All for Good, Youtube Volunteers, where regular citizens can post videos –so they say. Also Youtube has become more like the official online video site for the U.S. government with special channels for the White House and the U.S. Congress who get special treatment and features that regular members never get, like longer than 10 minutes videos, for instance.
After my videos were deleted by Youtube, I have received hate email messages and comments from people celebrating such censorship. “We did it, you big mouth faggot won’t spread lies anymore” they say while accusing me of being a terrorist because I care about human rights, they call me a communist because I believe in human equality, they call me a dirty faggot because I post videos about gay marriage and LGBT rights, they call me a nigger and a cholo –racist insult for Indigenous peoples- because I promote the end of racism. They say I’m a wetback cockroach because I care about immigration reform in the U.S. Some even made fun of the killing of my father in Peru, adding that they are watching me everywhere and will do anything to stop me again. My cellular phone service was cut for one day mysteriously and at this point I think anything can happen to me. I am aware but not afraid.
Who is behind the censorship complains sent to Youtube? I don’t know for sure but I am aware of some groups of people who dislike my work very much. I can mention racist people in the U.S. and Peru, like the Minutemen, the racist media in Lima, anti Indigenous groups including the government of Peru, right-wing politicians in Peru and other countries like Colombia, Venezuela and the U.S. because I posted videos supporting leftist governments and social movements in those countries. Also there are some eccentric Youtube members who even have created hateful videos against me.
Dear Youtube,
I am not just a video blogger, also I am an artist and an activist. I do paintings for a living among other things like blogging and creating videos that can help people in some way, That is me, truly, and to me, each video is a personal creation. I don’t upload videos before making sure they have a message and substance. I wish not to compare my work with other disgusting videos that you allow in your website just because they pay for the service –and according to many you give them more views hits in return.
Today I just want to testify and make it clear that each of my videos was made without intention of breaking any laws, or to infringe the rights of anyone. Youtube has made a mistake deleting my videos. They are part of me, my creation, my life in some way. You have taken away part of me, literally. I feel robbed.
You also have cut important friendships and alliances I had developed with hundreds of subscribers from all over the world, and you deleted important messages and comments they sent me and posted in my videos, with personal testimonies on their sufferings, their struggles, their hopes. All of that is gone for the moment, but I am fighting to get them back.
Please give me the chance to keep the videos I created with my own work and effort. I have created a temporary channel called PeruanistaBlog and I am creating a Facebook page for supporters. I hope you reconsider and correct your mistake, let me know and help me believe again that independent media is possible under your watch.