YouTube won’t take action on videos that target a reporter’s race and sexuality

A week ago, Vox reporter Carlos Maza decided he’d had enough after years of abuse.

On Twitter, Maza called out YouTube for failing to enforce its anti-harassment policies against right-wing commentator Steven Crowder, who has repeatedly made reference to Maza’s sexual orientation and race in his videos.

“I’ve been called an anchor baby, a lispy queer, a Mexican, etc,” Maza said in a tweet. “These videos get millions of views on YouTube. Every time one gets posted, I wake up to a wall of homophobic/racist abuse on Instagram and Twitter.”

On Tuesday night, YouTube finally responded to the furore by deeming Crowder’s videos as not violating its policies. 

“Opinions can be deeply offensive, but if they don’t violate our policies, they’ll remain on our site,” the statement read.

Responding to Mashable’s enquiries, the company said Crowder’s content did not violate its policies. 

These policies prohibit content which incites others to harass or threaten individuals on or off YouTube, or reveal’s someones personal information. To repeat: YouTube has deemed Crowder’s videos broke none of those rules.

YouTube’s response set off a wave of criticism against the company, especially as it boasts its pro-LGBTQ community credentials for Pride Month.

Maza was, to say the least, exasperated by YouTube’s response.

“YouTube has decided that targeted racist and homophobic harassment does not violate its policies against hate speech or harassment. That’s an absolutely batshit policy that gives bigots free license,” he tweeted.

In another tweet, he wrote: “I don’t know what else LGBT people are supposed to do. I compiled the clips for them. I sent them everything. Publicly begged them to pay attention. It’s never enough. Because YouTube does not give a fuck about protecting marginalized people, and it never has.”

In a statement, Vox Media publisher Melissa Bell said YouTube’s platform and system is broken “in ways that we can’t tolerate.”

“By refusing to take a stand on hate speech, they allow the worst of their communities to hide behind cries of ‘free speech’ and ‘fake news’ all while increasingly targeting people with the most offensive and odious harassment,” the statement reads.

“They encourage their fans to follow suit and we now see our reporters and creators consistently targeted by the worst abuse online, with no remedy or ability to protect themselves.”