YouTube is deleting comments with two phrases that insult Chinas Communist Party – The Verge

YouTube is automatically deleting comments that contain certain Chinese-language phrases related to criticism of the countrys ruling Communist Party (CCP). The company confirmed to The Verge this was happening in error and that its working to fix the issue.

Upon review by our teams, we have confirmed this was an error in our enforcement systems and we are working to fix it as quickly as possible, said a YouTube spokesperson. The company did not elaborate on how or why this error came to be, but said it was not the result of any change in its moderation policy.

But if the deletions are the result of a simple mistake, then its one thats gone unnoticed for six months. The Verge found evidence that comments were being deleted as early as October 2019, when the issue was raised on YouTubes official help pages and multiple users confirmed that they had experienced the same problem.

Comments left under videos or in live streams that contain the words (communist bandit) or (50-cent party) are automatically deleted in around 15 seconds, though their English language translations and Romanized Pinyin equivalents are not.

The term is an insult that dates back to Chinas Nationalist government, while , (or wu mao) is a derogatory slang term for internet users paid to direct online discussion away from criticism of the CCP. The name comes from claims that such commenters are paid 50 Chinese cents per post.

These phrases seem to have been accidentally added to YouTubes comment filters, which automatically remove spam and offensive text. The comments are removed too quickly for human moderation and are deleted even if the banned phrases are used positively (e.g., The are doing a fantastic job). YouTube says its been relying more on its automated filters in recent months due changes to its workforce brought about by the pandemic.

The accidental censorship is even more puzzling considering that YouTube is currently blocked in China, giving its parent company, Google, even less reason to censor comments critical of the CCP or apply moderation systems in accordance with Chinese censorship laws.

The automatic deletion of these phrases was highlighted on Tuesday by US technologist and former Oculus founder Palmer Luckey on Twitter. But earlier reports of the issue date back to the middle of May when they were spotted by human rights activist Jennifer Zeng. As mentioned above, though, The Verge also found complaints on YouTubes official help pages dated to October 2019.

Google has frequently been criticized for accommodating the wishes of the CCP by censoring content. Most notably, it created a prototype search engine known as Project Dragonfly that complied with Chinese state censorship. The project, which was never deployed, is part of the companys long-running struggles to enter the Chinese market.

When news of Dragonfly leaked in 2018 in a report from The Intercept, Google was criticized by politicians and its own employees for selling out its principles. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in June 2019, the company said it had terminated the project and that it had no plans to launch Search in China.

Update, May 26th, 12:43PM ET: The story has been updated to include YouTubes response.

Update, May 27th, 04:18AM ET: The story has been updated with another response from YouTube confirming it is now working on a fix.

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YouTube is deleting comments with two phrases that insult Chinas Communist Party - The Verge