YouTube mystery ban on hacking videos has content creators puzzled

guest · Jul 4, 2019

YouTube mystery ban on hacking videos has content creators puzzled
Recent policy remains unclear about what's disallowed
July 3, 2019
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/07/03/youtube_bans_hacking_videos/

Updated YouTube, under fire since inception for building a business on other people's copyrights and in recent years for its vacillating policies on irredeemable content, recently decided it no longer wants to host instructional hacking videos.
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The written policy first appears in the Internet Wayback Machine's archive of web history in an April 5, 2019 snapshot. It forbids: "Instructional hacking and phishing: Showing users how to bypass secure computer systems or steal user credentials and personal data."

Now that there's a written rule, there's renewed concern about how the policy is being applied.
Kody Kinzie, a security researcher and educator who posts hacking videos to YouTube's Null Byte channel, on Tuesday said a video created for the US July 4th holiday to demonstrate launching fireworks over Wi-Fi couldn't be uploaded because of the rule.

"I'm worried for everyone that teaches about infosec and tries to fill in the gaps for people who are learning," he said via Twitter. "It is hard, often boring, and expensive to learn cybersecurity."
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Tyler Reguly, manager of security R&D at Tripwire, said censorship has been a concern among YouTube video makers for some time. In an email to The Register, he expressed sympathy for the challenge YouTube faces as a business.

"If YouTube wants advertisers to pay, they need to be aware of the content they are allowing," he said. "We tend to forget that these websites exist to make money, not for the betterment of society."

"The YouTube system, based on reports that I’ve seen in the past, is quite arbitrary and difficult to understand, even as a YouTuber working directly with the company, nothing is as straightforward as it seems," he said.
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guest · Jul 5, 2019

YouTube’s Ban of Hacking Videos Moves Us Closer to an Entertainment-only Public Sphere
How information becomes dangerous in a world where nobody trusts each other
July 5, 2019
https://danielmiessler.com/blog/you...ves-us-closer-to-an-entertainment-only-world/

Marcus Hutchins wrote a great essay recently about YouTube’s new ban on “hacking” videos.

"One major problem here is that hacking tutorials are not inherently bad. There exist a vast YouTube community aimed at teaching the next generation of cyber security experts."
I think he’s absolutely correct, but it’s actually worse than that. I think it reveals a precarious future where dangerous is redefined as, “anything that can be used to do harm”.

If someone describes how an alarm system works, so people can understand that and maybe make a different choice, or add some additional defenses, it only takes a few people to complain—or maybe an incident—to claim that the knowledge of how that alarm works makes the public less safe.

Entertainment is safe; Information is dangerous.
This will do two things. First, it’ll drive real information exchange underground, where—due to the pressures applied—it will often take on darker forms. Second, it will leave the public platforms as a sterile environment devoid of the most important content and conversation.
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Marcus Hutchins: YouTube’s Policy on Hacking Tutorials is Problematic

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