Despite acknowledging that a 2014 hip-hop song of artist YG is indeed offensive, YouTube execs denied requests to have the music video removed from YoutTube.
A group of YouTube employees asserts that YG’s 2014 song Meet the Flockers” convey Anti-Asian innuendos as the lyrics describe Asians as easy targets for burglary and home invasions. The lyrics teach how and why — as simply locating an Asian house in a Chinese neighborhood will lead home invader to cash because the Chinese do not believe in putting their money in bank accounts.
The controversy over the song started when the YoutTube employees brought the matter up to the company’s Trust & Safety team, requesting to remove the song from the video-sharing platform. However, as response, they received an email from the department’s executive last March 22, indicating that their their request cannot be fulfilled.
Bloomberg reported that the YouTube leaders, nonetheless, agreed to conduct a town hall discussion pertaining to the matter. Mainly because heated comments continued to flood message boards. One comment posted in the company message board said that this is the perfect time to take the lead in the ‘Racial Justice Initiative’ to which 430 agreed by up-voting.
The matter being of current relevance today in which violent anti-Asian attacks are on the rise, such themes are sensitive topics.
YouTube Execs Defend Their Decision to Reject the Request
The outcome of the town hall meeting only reiterated the executives’ decision to reject the request despite agreeing that the video contains offensive content. They stated that YouTube allows videos that pass the standards of Educational, Documentary, Scientific or Artistic (EDSA) context, even if they include violations of the platform’s “hate speech policy.”
They remain resolute with their decision in order to avoid similar occurrences that would lead to the deletion of other music videos in the platform.
The YouTube spokesperson stated that even if employees disagree with the decision, the company encourages employees to share their thoughts and maintain an open culture. YouTube though, requested Bloomberg to keep the names of the executives involved, confidential for security purposes.