Editor’s Note: Article contains graphic sexual material.
Google, which owns YouTube via parent-company Alphabet, removed a video-streaming competitor from the Google Play store on the pretext that the platform allows pornographic material, Reclaim the Net reported.
LBRY is “a blockchain-based decentralized YouTube alternative” that has been established in a way that prevents corporate censorship, which threatens Google’s grasp on the video-sharing market.”
More than 100,000 people have downloaded the LBRY app.
“Google doesn’t believe you should be allowed to decide for yourself about what you want to read, watch and hear,” LBRY said in a tweet. “They think they should decide for you.”
The company’s Twitter handle, @LBRYcom, described the circumstances surrounding its removal from Google’s app store.
The image on the left was cited by Google as why LBRY Android was banned from the Playstore.
It’s a comedic scene without explicit nudity, in a skit written by Hollywood writer @LaurenceofLA.
The image on the right is from a film still available via the Playstore.
??? pic.twitter.com/da50RSX4Vj
— LBRY ? ⚖️ ? (@LBRYcom) September 25, 2020
The name of the short film LBRY Android was banned for is “For the Record”, you can watch it here:https://t.co/2HxwALb952
There is nothing in this that is pornographic. Google is just getting scared of us and going to begin pulling out all the stops.
— LBRY ? ⚖️ ? (@LBRYcom) September 25, 2020
Google said the short film violated the company’s policy on “Sexual Content and Profanity.”
Whether “For the Record” constitutes pornography is up for debate. But Google’s double-standard is clear.
The Google Play store still carries the Netflix app, despite many films on the platform that contain more explicitly sexual material, including the film “Cuties” that sexualizes prepubescent girls.
Libertarians and progressives often agree that conservatives should stop complaining about corporate technology censorship, since they can start their own platform.
But Google’s monopoly power over internet and app access makes it difficult for new platforms to develop an audience.
The tech giant is one of several—including Facebook, Twitter, Apple and Amazon—that have come under growing bipartisan scrutiny for their predatory practices amid growing calls to enact anti-trust legislation.
During recent testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, CEO Sundar Pichai staunchly denied that the company engaged in illegal monopolistic practices, as well as insisting it did not practice censorship of conservative viewpoints.
There is considerable evidence to the contrary supporting both allegations.
