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Topline: First, Vox reporter Carlos Maza calls out YouTube for hosting right-winger Steven Crowder, saying Crowder has been criticizing him in racial and homophobic terms for years. YouTube says it won’t punish Crowder. Maza objects. A social-media uproar follows. Then YouTube promises to demonetize Crowder. Crowder cries “Adpocalypse”—another uproar follows. Follow the updates below. . .
- Last week, in a complaint to YouTube on Twitter, Maza published a compilation reel from Steven Crowder’s YouTube channel, in which he repeatedly calls Maza such slurs such as “Mr. lispy queer from Vox” and “angry little queer” and “gay Mexican.”
- On Tuesday, YouTube responded, saying Crowder could stay on the platform because, while his comments were “hurtful,” he did not violate YouTube’s policies. The company said it considered the context of the videos and looked at whether the content was solely malicious or couched in debate.
- On Wednesday, YouTube then announced that it had “suspended [Crowder’s] channel’s monetization,” but said it would reverse course if Crowder removed a link to his T-shirt store. (It is unclear whether he will or not.)
After his channel was demonetized, Crowder took to Twitter in an immediate uproar, saying that YouTube and “Big Journalism” are trying to silence “independent creators.” He has retweeted conservative commentators who lament him being punished for “saying mean things.” He has dubbed the entire episode the #VoxAdpocalyspe, which was the top trending topic on Twitter Wednesday night. Prominent right-wing personalities, such as Ben Shapiro, have come to his defense.
In the mix, Crowder is framing himself as a satirist akin to Stephen Colbert or Daily Show host Trevor Noah. He even pointed to soundbites of late-night comedians mocking Melania Trump’s accent or insulting Ivanka Trump and asked why that behavior was okay.
“The #VoxAdpocalypse is different from past Adpocalypses... now it's not about politics, it's gone even to comedy!” Crowder tweeted.
Clay Calvert, a professor studying the First Amendment at the University of Florida, said that Crowder is making himself into a martyr.
“He’s trying to expose hypocrisy and exploit what already think about YouTube to his own benefit,” he said.
Crowder’s image among right-wing personalities as free speech martyr standing up to the ilk of large tech and media companies stands in stark contrast to how Maza and the LGBTQ community are talking about the episode.
In response to the announcement, Maza tweeted that demonetization isn’t enough, as Crowder can still profit from the sales of his merchandise, such as T-shirts that say “There are 2 Genders Only. Change My Mind” and “Socialism Is For F*gs.” On the shirts about socialism the “a” is blocked out, and Crowder says the shirt says “figs.” Those shirts are no longer on his website.
According to analytics platform SimilarWeb, Crowder’s online store has averaged nearly 75,000 views per month in 2019.
“The problem isn't Crowder and the problem isn't monetization. The problem is that YouTube allows monsters and bullies to become superstars, break YouTube's rules, build an army of loyal, radicalized followers, and then make millions selling them merch that sustains their work,” he tweeted.
Brain Gaither, co-founder of the Pride Foundation of Maryland, said Crowder hides behind the guise of comedy and satire to attack the LGBTQ community. By leaving Crowder’s channel up, Gaither said, YouTube is providing him a megaphone and endorsing him, despite its decision to prevent him from making money from his videos.
“This notion that he’s innocent and tongue and cheek and exploring the bounds of taboo in our language is pretend,” he said. “He (Crowder) knows exactly what he’s doing.”
To send a message, Gaither said the foundation is taking all of its video off YouTube.
A group of Google employees using the Twitter account “Googlers Against Hate” started a campaign, called #NoPrideInYT, to bring attention to what they say is YouTube’s hypocrisy in having a rainbow logo during pride month while letting Crowder stay on the platform.
“Despite YouTube capitalizing on Pride as a marketing campaign, it's clear they have no issue making policy decisions that harm LGBTQ people,” the account tweeted.
