YouTube Shuts Down Channels Inciting Hate Speech

YouTube pulled the plug on six far-right channels as online social media platforms face increasing pressure to crack down on hateful rhetoric. AFP
YouTube pulled the plug on six far-right channels as online social media platforms face increasing pressure to crack down on hateful rhetoric. AFP
TT
20

YouTube Shuts Down Channels Inciting Hate Speech

YouTube pulled the plug on six far-right channels as online social media platforms face increasing pressure to crack down on hateful rhetoric. AFP
YouTube pulled the plug on six far-right channels as online social media platforms face increasing pressure to crack down on hateful rhetoric. AFP

YouTube on Monday shut down six far-right channels for violating rules against "supremacist" content, booting videos by David Duke, Stefan Molyneux and Richard Spencer.

The video sharing platform pulled the plug on the channels as online social media platforms face increasing pressure to crack down on hateful rhetoric.

All the terminated channels broke YouTube rules by alleging that members of protected groups were innately inferior to others, according to the Google-owned video platform.

"We have strict policies prohibiting hate speech on YouTube, and terminate any channel that repeatedly or egregiously violates those policies," YouTube said in response to an AFP inquiry about the move.

Since updating guidelines a year ago to better address supremacist content, YouTube saw a fivefold spike in video removals and has terminated more than 25,000 channels for violating hate speech policies, the spokesperson added.

YouTube said that the channels removed Monday included Duke, Molyneux, Spencer and American Renaissance.

Some of the nixed channels violated rules against linking YouTube videos to hateful content hosted elsewhere on the internet, the company said.

According to AFP, Spencer confirmed the suspension of his account in a tweet that included a screen-capture of a message from YouTube citing policies against glorifying or inciting violence against a person or group.

In a video posted on Twitter, Molyneux said his offerings on YouTube were erased, contending that the action was unwarranted.

"The accusation is the usual one that I am fomenting violence and hatred and so on, which is not true at all," Molyneux said in the video.

"It is a huge blow."



Faint Glow in Saturn… Did a Mystery Object Crash into the Gas Giant on Saturday?

New image captured by a NASA employee and amateur astronomer appears to show a space object crashing into Saturn for the first time. Photo: NASA
New image captured by a NASA employee and amateur astronomer appears to show a space object crashing into Saturn for the first time. Photo: NASA
TT
20

Faint Glow in Saturn… Did a Mystery Object Crash into the Gas Giant on Saturday?

New image captured by a NASA employee and amateur astronomer appears to show a space object crashing into Saturn for the first time. Photo: NASA
New image captured by a NASA employee and amateur astronomer appears to show a space object crashing into Saturn for the first time. Photo: NASA

Astronomers have called for help to identify a mystery object that may have hit Saturn on Saturday in what could be the first recorded instance of a space object crashing on to the gas giant.

Studies suggest large objects- measuring over a kilometer across – strike Saturn once every 3,125 years on an average, according to The Independent.

Although data shows seven or eight small space rocks hit the planet every year, none have been spotted in the act by astronomers so far.

Compared to rocky planets where cosmic collisions leave impact craters, gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn don’t reveal such signs.

But a new image captured by a Nasa employee and amateur astronomer Mario Rana appears to show a space object crashing into Saturn for the first time.

Since gas giants have outer layers made of hydrogen and helium, strikes by asteroids or comets can quickly fade out.

Rana is part of the DeTeCt project, which analyzes images of Jupiter and Saturn using computer software. Videos taken of Saturn by the astronomer last Saturday show a faint glow in the left side of the footage, which seems like an impact event.

The Planetary Virtual Observatory and Laboratory, or PVOL, a consortium of professional and amateur astronomers, has called for experts in the field to attempt to confirm or refute the potential impact on Saturn.

“Marc Delcroix reports a potential impact in Saturn captured in a few frames in a video observation obtained by Mario Rana. The potential impact would be very faint and is unconfirmed,” PVOL said in a statement.

“The very short impact flash occurred on Saturn on 5 July 2025, between 9am and 9.15am UT. It is very important to get other videos of Saturn taken during that time frame.”

PVOL has urged astronomers who may have also captured observations from this time to contact Delcroix and submit their data.

Leigh N Fletcher, a planetary science professor at the University of Leicester, also called for amateur space observers to share any potential videos they may have of the impact.

“Amplifying the call from Marc Delcroix and co over the weekend: the team are looking to verify/refute a potential impact on Saturn on 5 July, 9am to 9.15am UT,” Dr Fletcher wrote on BlueSky.

“Videos taken by amateur observers at that time might hold the key.”