I'm sorry to make a third post about this one and same subject in such a short time, but the hypocrisy of this guy just irks me to no end.
He is one of the biggest "anti-SJW" critics on YouTube, with several channels, the main one of them, TheQuartering, having (at the time of writing this) 626 thousand subscribers, which makes him one of the biggest among that crowd (probably in the top 10, or at least top 20).
As I wrote earlier, during the last couple of years he has been on a crusade to have someone banned from YouTube completely. That someone had uploaded in the past highly despicable and disturbing animal abuse videos, which were rather obviously quite criminal and blatantly against YouTube's terms of service, and were quickly removed. TheQuartering went on a campaign to have him reported to the authorities, and he was indeed indicted and (if I understand correctly) is now pending trial in his country.
That I have zero problems with, obviously. Criminals should be punished to the fullest extent of the law, according to their crimes, through proper legal procedure under the rule of law. And any videos that contain criminal activity or are blatantly infringing on YouTube terms of service (especially the ones that are reasonable and common sense) should be quickly removed.
What I do have a problem with is that this TheQuartering guy is not only content in his illegal videos being removed and him getting prosecuted by the authorities. No. He wants the guy completely banned from YouTube, and all of his videos removed, even those that do not contain anything illegal or infringing. In other words, he wants that guy deplatformed, and all of his means to publish his opinions removed from him.
That's where I draw the line, because I'm a free speech absolutist. The fundamental right to free speech is inalienable, ie. irrevocable. The right to free speech is not conditional. It's not dependent on what one might or might not have done in the past, what crimes one might or might not have committed. It does not matter how heinous a person might be, and how heinous his actions might have been, he still retains the exact same right to free speech as everybody else. If such a person uploads a new non-infringing video that contains no criminal activity, then that video should have the exact same right to exist as any other. Past actions of the person should have no bearing on that.
And of course the comment section of the video where TheQuartering advocates for banning that person is a total echo chamber, with every single one of his followers riling up against that guy and wanting him banned, and wishing for vigilante mob justice in the form of physical harm, and even murder. I was called a "leftist" and "antifa" for defending the guy's right to free speech (and someone even started a bit of a harassment crusade against me by starting to flood the comment section of my own videos with derogatory comments and insults.)
TheQuartering is a huge hypocrite. Just a day prior to that video he uploaded another where he criticized a 60 Minutes TV show episode where they advocate for online censorship.
And what do you know. A couple of days later he uploaded another video on free speech and how gab.com are being hypocrites about it. His spiel at the beginning of the video is just incredible:
Nice speech. Too bad that it's completely hypocritical. It only takes the right kind of person, and all that goes to the trashcan.
He is one of the biggest "anti-SJW" critics on YouTube, with several channels, the main one of them, TheQuartering, having (at the time of writing this) 626 thousand subscribers, which makes him one of the biggest among that crowd (probably in the top 10, or at least top 20).
As I wrote earlier, during the last couple of years he has been on a crusade to have someone banned from YouTube completely. That someone had uploaded in the past highly despicable and disturbing animal abuse videos, which were rather obviously quite criminal and blatantly against YouTube's terms of service, and were quickly removed. TheQuartering went on a campaign to have him reported to the authorities, and he was indeed indicted and (if I understand correctly) is now pending trial in his country.
That I have zero problems with, obviously. Criminals should be punished to the fullest extent of the law, according to their crimes, through proper legal procedure under the rule of law. And any videos that contain criminal activity or are blatantly infringing on YouTube terms of service (especially the ones that are reasonable and common sense) should be quickly removed.
What I do have a problem with is that this TheQuartering guy is not only content in his illegal videos being removed and him getting prosecuted by the authorities. No. He wants the guy completely banned from YouTube, and all of his videos removed, even those that do not contain anything illegal or infringing. In other words, he wants that guy deplatformed, and all of his means to publish his opinions removed from him.
That's where I draw the line, because I'm a free speech absolutist. The fundamental right to free speech is inalienable, ie. irrevocable. The right to free speech is not conditional. It's not dependent on what one might or might not have done in the past, what crimes one might or might not have committed. It does not matter how heinous a person might be, and how heinous his actions might have been, he still retains the exact same right to free speech as everybody else. If such a person uploads a new non-infringing video that contains no criminal activity, then that video should have the exact same right to exist as any other. Past actions of the person should have no bearing on that.
And of course the comment section of the video where TheQuartering advocates for banning that person is a total echo chamber, with every single one of his followers riling up against that guy and wanting him banned, and wishing for vigilante mob justice in the form of physical harm, and even murder. I was called a "leftist" and "antifa" for defending the guy's right to free speech (and someone even started a bit of a harassment crusade against me by starting to flood the comment section of my own videos with derogatory comments and insults.)
TheQuartering is a huge hypocrite. Just a day prior to that video he uploaded another where he criticized a 60 Minutes TV show episode where they advocate for online censorship.
And what do you know. A couple of days later he uploaded another video on free speech and how gab.com are being hypocrites about it. His spiel at the beginning of the video is just incredible:
"The discussion around freedom of speech can often lead you into some uncomfortable conversations. It can lead you to defending some things that you find absolutely deplorable. Things that you feel probably that the world would be better if they didn't exist.The amount of hypocrisy here is just mind-boggling. He is talking about himself here. But not as one who "supports freedom of speech even when you have to defend something you find totally deplorable". No. He himself is one of the "I support freedom of speech BUT" people.
If you follow me on Twitter, @TheQuartering, you see I was in a conversation earlier this week that is very touchy, about freedom of speech, freedom of expression. And I don't think one can say that they're pro freedom of speech and then insert the word "but" after it. That's what I often run into. People saying "I'm totally for freedom for speech BUT..." No no no no. You either are or you are not. Freedom of speech is something that isn't always easy to defend, and it separates the wheat from the chaff, when you have to defend something you find totally deplorable. And it's not about that one thing, and just because you defend that thing doesn't mean you support it."
Nice speech. Too bad that it's completely hypocritical. It only takes the right kind of person, and all that goes to the trashcan.
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