More Proof (If You Needed It) that the Rules Only Apply to Some

Shapes of things (24) | Power Line (powerlineblog.com)

On Sunday, with CPAC’s permission, Minnesota’s scrappy Alpha News posted the video of President Trump’s CPAC speech on the Alpha News YouTube channel. (I am a member of the Alpha News board.) YouTube removed the video and called strike one on Alpha News for posting it. Below is a screenshot of the notice from YouTube.

Of course I’m against takedowns. I always am. But this one is worse than usual. Consider Alpha News’ reply:

President Trump’s speech at CPAC is currently posted in full and unedited on the Reuters YouTube channel, the ABC News YouTube channel, and The Hill’s YouTube channel. Removing this speech only from the Alpha News YouTube channel is thus an unequal enforcement of the Community Guidelines. We respectfully request that YouTube either restore our video and clear us of any channel violations, or remove the video from Reuters, ABC News and The Hill and apply a strike to their channels as well. Thank you for your time.

You’d think that’d be enough to get Alpha News’ video restored. You’d be wrong.

Early this morning YouTube denied the appeal. This means Alpha News can’t post any new content for 7 days and that it is two strikes away from being removed completely. The video posted on the Reuters YouTube channel is here.

YouTube only enforces its rules when it wants to. I know that you’re shocked.