Where's Amol? (Updated)

 

It's quite an astonishing act of censorship that Google has pulled talkRADIO's YouTube channel, presumably for 'sailing close to the wind' for giving voice to the sceptical minority over Covid-19 and lockdown, as if such views shouldn't be tolerated. 

talkRADIO is an Ofcom-regulated broadcaster that receives its hourly news from Sky News. 

It's owned by Wireless Group, which also owns talkSPORT and Times Radio and is part of the universe of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. 

Amol Rajan, the BBC's media editor has been highly active on Twitter today, but - so far - has been ignoring this extraordinary attack on free speech by 'Big Tech'.

Come in, Amol! One for BBC One's main bulletins? Urgent questions from you to Google/YouTube?

Anyhow, here's BBC disinformation specialist Marianna giving her "analysis", and sympathising with the predicament the poor, censorious 'Tech Giants' find themselves in. 'It's so hard for them having to decide to censor media outlets like talkRADIO but it's a job they've probably got to do' seems to sum up her point of view:

That's outrageous, but it's where we are with the BBC these days.

Update:  talkRADIO is back on YouTube, but Konstantin Kisin's earlier comments (before their reinstatement) still strike an ominous chord:

I am sure thatTalkRadio will get their YouTube channel reinstated. They have the lawyers, the connections and the money. I will be delighted for them when it happens. However, it doesn't matter. Today is the day we can all be 100% certain that free speech is over. Here's why:

When Big Tech censored the New York Post's story about Hunter Biden during US election, I told you (as a non-partisan) it was the biggest story of 2020. Big tech decided what was true in an attempt to influence an election. From there it gets worse: 

As covered by Glenn Greenwald, the Biden cabinet is packed with former big tech executives. His administration will do nothing to deal with big tech censorship. The only chance was Trump winning and being so pissed off that he took a sledgehammer to Section 230. Congress won't help - they don't even understand how big tech companies operate as we have seen from hearing after hearing. They once asked Zuckerberg how Facebook makes money if they don't charge users. 

There is a simple truth here: Big Tech has more power than individual consumers and creators due to their monopoly and they have more power than your government due to lobbying, geriatric politicians and political appointees from big tech backgrounds. And they know it.

Free speech online is over.

Update 6/1: As StewGreen notes, the BBC website article was re-written last night and Marianna Spring's 'analysis' removed.