Last week, NCAC and EFF protested YouTube’s removal of work by acclaimed video-artist Amy Greenfield. NCAC applauds YouTube for so promptly responding to our letter and restoring Amy Greenfield’s videos to its site (there are still some technical glitches but we are assured these will be taken care of soon). We are glad the company affirms that creativity and free expression are values at the very core of its mission.
But some serious concerns remain. It seems that, still, there is no viable way for individuals to appeal decisions to remove content. What one can find in abundance as a result of a search on YouTube’s help page are entries from other users who had videos taken off, tried to appeal and were angry and frustrated as could find no way to do so.
We also urge YouTube to add “art” to the community guidelines exceptions “for educational, documentary and scientific content” where nudity is concerned. That will give YouTube staffers evaluating flagged videos clearer direction.