A British journalist's account on YouTube was deleted without warning, allegedly due to alleged ties to an Iranian state influence campaign. Robert Inlakesh's independent reporting on Israel and Palestine has captured footage of Israeli military abuses, including demolishing Palestinian homes, police harassment, and soldiers shooting at civilians.
YouTube claimed that the content on his channel violated community guidelines, but nearly two years after the account was deleted, YouTube provided a different explanation - claiming that Inlakesh's page contained spam or scam content. However, when The Intercept inquired further about the termination of his accounts, YouTube declined to provide evidence to support this claim.
Inlakesh acknowledged that he worked at the Iranian state-owned media organization Press TV from 2019 to 2021, but argued that his independent content should not have been deleted. He claimed that he was targeted due to his journalism about Palestine and the increasingly common trend of pro-Israeli censorship among Big Tech companies.
A public Google document from the month Inlakesh's account was deleted notes that Google had recently closed more than 30 accounts linked to Iran that posted content critical of Israel and its war on Gaza. However, YouTube did not respond when asked if Inlakesh's account was among those mentioned in the document.
Critics argue that Google and YouTube's actions are part of a larger pattern of censorship and pro-Israel bias against Palestinian journalists. The Iranian state-owned media organization Press TV has been under scrutiny by Google and YouTube, with its channel deleted in 2019 due to U.S. sanctions.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Jillian York said that more labels, more warnings, less censorship would be a better approach. "The political climate around Palestine has made it such that a lot of the Silicon Valley-based social media platforms don’t seem particularly willing to ensure that Palestinian content can stay up," she added.
Robert Inlakesh lost several documentaries about Israel and Palestine when his account was deleted. He lamented the loss of footage of his independent coverage from the West Bank, including livestreams documenting alleged Israeli military abuses.
The incident raises concerns about Big Tech's role in shaping public discourse and the impact of censorship on journalists covering sensitive topics like Palestine and Israel.
YouTube claimed that the content on his channel violated community guidelines, but nearly two years after the account was deleted, YouTube provided a different explanation - claiming that Inlakesh's page contained spam or scam content. However, when The Intercept inquired further about the termination of his accounts, YouTube declined to provide evidence to support this claim.
Inlakesh acknowledged that he worked at the Iranian state-owned media organization Press TV from 2019 to 2021, but argued that his independent content should not have been deleted. He claimed that he was targeted due to his journalism about Palestine and the increasingly common trend of pro-Israeli censorship among Big Tech companies.
A public Google document from the month Inlakesh's account was deleted notes that Google had recently closed more than 30 accounts linked to Iran that posted content critical of Israel and its war on Gaza. However, YouTube did not respond when asked if Inlakesh's account was among those mentioned in the document.
Critics argue that Google and YouTube's actions are part of a larger pattern of censorship and pro-Israel bias against Palestinian journalists. The Iranian state-owned media organization Press TV has been under scrutiny by Google and YouTube, with its channel deleted in 2019 due to U.S. sanctions.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Jillian York said that more labels, more warnings, less censorship would be a better approach. "The political climate around Palestine has made it such that a lot of the Silicon Valley-based social media platforms don’t seem particularly willing to ensure that Palestinian content can stay up," she added.
Robert Inlakesh lost several documentaries about Israel and Palestine when his account was deleted. He lamented the loss of footage of his independent coverage from the West Bank, including livestreams documenting alleged Israeli military abuses.
The incident raises concerns about Big Tech's role in shaping public discourse and the impact of censorship on journalists covering sensitive topics like Palestine and Israel.
he was just doin his job as a journalist, exposin israeli military abuses & police harassment... now all that footage is lost forever 
& its not just him, theres others like him who are gettin targeted for their journalism on palestine & israel. google & youtube r supposed to be all about free speech but its clear they got a bias problem 
especially with iran being scrutinized & their own media orgs gettin deleted... more labels, less censorship would be the way to go imo 
It doesn't add up. And then to find out that Google had closed 30 accounts linked to Iran the same month, it's like they're playing a game of connect-the-dots between countries. 
This isn't about freedom of speech, it's about silencing those who are speaking truth to power. 
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is right on this one, more transparency and less censorship would be a better approach. 
We need more journalists like Robert Inlakesh who aren't afraid to take risks and tell the stories that need telling. 
i mean robert inlakesh has been reporting on israel and palestine for years, capturing some real serious stuff too. he's not affiliated with any iranian org anymore 
and google just closed like 30 other accounts from iran last month 
so what's the deal? 
shouldn't youtube be more careful about who they're censoring? it's all just a bit suspicious for me 
, but when The Intercept asked for evidence, they were all like "eh, we didn't have any" 
. It's no wonder the Iranian state-owned media org Press TV got its channel deleted in 2019 due to US sanctions - you can't trust Big Tech when it comes to fairness 
. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is right, we need more labels, more warnings, and less censorship 
. I mean, what's next? Will they delete all the Palestinian journalists' accounts too? 
. And honestly, who gets to decide what content is "spam" or "scam"? It sounds like Big Tech just doesn't want to deal with Palestinian journalists anymore 
. More labels, more warnings, less censorship would be a good starting point 
! YouTube's actions are super shady 
. He's not some Iran-backed spy or whatever YouTube thinks he is 
. And what's up with Google closing accounts linked to Iran? Sounds like a witch hunt 
! Can't these companies just let people report the truth without being demonized? 
I think its a pretty scary situation for journalists who try to expose the truth, especially when its about super sensitive topics like Palestine & Israel 
. If Robert Inlakesh's account got deleted without warning just because he worked for Press TV 
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. And yeah, the fact that another journalist who worked for Press TV got their account deleted too is like, what are we gonna do? 
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This whole thing is super messed up 
. If Robert Inlakesh's account was deleted by YouTube without warning, it's only fair that the explanation for the deletion should be clear and concise 
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. What's next? Will they delete all accounts that mention Palestine or Israel? 
? First they say his account was deleted cuz it had spam or scam content, but then it turns out Google has a whole doc about closing accounts linked to Iran that's critical of Israel... and YouTube just doesn't wanna talk about it 
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. I'm not buying it.
They're basically trying to control the narrative on Palestine and Israel, and it's getting out of hand. More labels, more warnings, less censorship is the way to go - that's what I say! 
. I don't think it's right that they deleted his account without warning or even explaining why 
... that doesn't seem like fair play to me, you know? 
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I'm not buying it. The fact that Google and YouTube are so quick to silence Palestinian journalists and pro-Israel critics is just another example of how biased these platforms are.