The Register ยป
XenuTV vs. Anonymous Hate Crimes
Published Friday 2nd May 2008 07:02 GMT
It seems that YouTube has one set of rules for The Church of Scientology and another set for Scientology’s critics.
Two weeks ago, YouTube vaporized a 10,000-subscriber-strong channel run by well-known Scientology critic Mark Bunker. His “Xenutv1” deserved to die, the YouTubers said, because they had already axed an earlier account, “Xenutv,” where Bunker infringed a few copyrights
Indeed, YouTube’s terms of service clearly say “A user whose account has been terminated is prohibited from accessing, possessing or creating any other YouTube accounts.”
But the world’s largest video sharer hasn’t applied this rule to the brand new channel launched by Scientology itself – and trumpeted with an official Scientology press release. Like Bunker, Scientology had an earlier account erased after it violated site policy.
Are you listening Stephen Colbert?
In March, as reported by The New York Post, Scientology launched a YouTube channel in an attempt to discredit members of Anonymous, a live-wire internet group intent on making life difficult for Tom Cruise and crew. Dubbed the “Scientology Official Report on Anonymous Hate Crimes,” the channel identified individual members of the group, describing them as “terrorists.”