Google, YouTube locks account of professor critical of politically-correct gender-neutral pronouns
On Wednesday, the Washington Free Beacon reported that Google and YouTube temporarily locked the account of a Canadian professor critical of politically-correct gender-neutral pronouns.
According to the Free Beacon:
University of Toronto professor Jordan Peterson made headlines in Canada last year when he was openly critical of a bill that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression under the Canadian Human Rights Act. The bill also extended hate speech provisions to transgender people.
The psychology professor warned that the bill could hamper free speech by punishing those who refuse to use gender-neutral or preferred pronouns.
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“I will never use words I hate, like the trendy and artificially constructed words ‘zhe’ and ‘zher,'” he said. “These words are at the vanguard of a post-modern, radical leftist ideology that I detest, and which is, in my professional opinion, frighteningly similar to the Marxist doctrines that killed at least 100 million people in the 20th century.”
Peterson added:
I have been studying authoritarianism on the right and the left for 35 years. I wrote a book, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief, on the topic, which explores how ideologies hijack language and belief. As a result of my studies, I have come to believe that Marxism is a murderous ideology. I believe its practitioners in modern universities should be ashamed of themselves for continuing to promote such vicious, untenable and anti-human ideas, and for indoctrinating their students with these beliefs. I am therefore not going to mouth Marxist words. That would make me a puppet of the radical left, and that is not going to happen. Period.
Naturally, he was accused of bigotry and protested by transgender students, the Free Beacon said. Moreover, the University of Toronto sent two letters warning that his refusal to use students’ preferred pronouns could be a form of discrimination.
On Tuesday, Peterson said he could not access his accounts:
Google has disabled my main account. No explanation given. Cannot access my YouTube channel.
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) August 1, 2017
Google is refusing to reinstate my account. Violation of terms of service. No explanation given. https://t.co/sLOxXgw7De
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) August 1, 2017
I cannot post new YouTube videos, including last week's Biblical lecture. No access. At least — for now — the videos are still up. https://t.co/BfDhw9bDzn
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) August 1, 2017
He also posted screenshots highlighting his battle with Google:
Here's the images for the shutdown sequence. pic.twitter.com/5elHuAE6DS
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) August 1, 2017
“After review, your account is not eligible to be reinstated due to a violation of our Terms of Service,” Google said in an email.
Eventually, the Free Beacon said, his account was unblocked, but Peterson still has no idea what prompted the block.
“Why was it shut down? Who knows?” he said. “Why did they refuse to reinstate it? Who knows?”
My gmail/YT account is back. Why was it shut down? Who knows Why did they refuse to reinstate it? Who knows? Why did they turn it back on? https://t.co/6jSJQRWLin
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) August 1, 2017
One person responded:
Well some animals are more equal than others…
— aim_away_from_face (@bickle_aaron) August 1, 2017
Indeed.
The underlying reason for the block — despite whatever excuse the company might give — is federal law, which sanctions actions like this.
As we have reported time and time again, and as Adina Kutnicki and I explain in our book, “Banned: How Facebook enables militant Islamic jihad,” Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 is the underlying culprit.
In 2014, a federal judge said this section of the law lets companies like Google and Facebook censor even constitutionally-protected speech with zero legal consequences. Add to that the liberal bias present in many of these companies, and the result is the kind of censorship one might see in a novel written by George Orwell.
Until Congress amends this section of the law to uphold free speech online, abuse like this will continue.
Related:
- YouTube to work with liberal ADL, censor non-rulebreaking content
- YouTube under fire for ‘Heroes’ program that lets trolls mass-delete videos they disagree with
- Email indicates Hillary Clinton worked with Google, YouTube to block Benghazi video
- Facebook censors Reuters article highlighting Facebook censorship
- The real reasons social media sites censor conservative content
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