On Being Disappeared
There are two points to make here:<p>1. If you&#x27;re paying attention, you <i>know</i> this will happen at some point. Archive your own shit, because Google has made it more than clear there&#x27;s no guarantee they&#x27;ll do it for you forever.<p>2. This idea that you&#x27;re being deplatformed or marginalised because years of your archives are no longer available in a free and easily accessible format from someone else is <i>not</i> supported by call outs to MLK, Malcolm X, etc. Even if you accept the idea that they had free and unfettered access to public broadcasting (ha!), there was absolutely no easy way to get access to the archives of that on demand! The speakers themselves, and their organisations, had to manage that.<p>People who think they&#x27;re entitled to free unfettered video hosting on YouTube are dreaming. There&#x27;s no historic precedent to indicate that it should be so, and YouTube has made it <i>very</i> clear that they can and will bounce you whenever they like. As of today, you are entitled to free speech, but no one has to give you their soapbox to stand on.<p>I think there&#x27;s a valid conversation to be had about whether that&#x27;s how it should be, but I don&#x27;t think this article is that.