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Updated June 28th, 2021 at 12:10 IST

Youtube blocks channel by human rights groups on Uyghurs before reinstating: Reports

Before the channel and some videos were back up, YouTube blocked videos posted by a human rights group that documented the experiences of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

Reported by: Aanchal Nigam
Uyghur genocide
IMAGE: AP/Unsplash | Image:self
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Before the channel and some videos were back up, YouTube took down videos posted by a human rights group that documented the experiences of people from the Uyghur community about the disappearance of their family members in China’s remote area of Xinjiang. As per MIT Technology Review, the YouTube channel of human rights group ‘Atajurt Kazakh Human Rights’ was blocked entirely on June 15. Reportedly, the platform explained that 12 of the videos posted by the channel has received multiple “strikes” for featuring people holding up ID cards in order to prove that they were related to Uyghurs that have disappeared in Xinjiang. 

The Atajurt Kazakh Human Rights channel is owned by Serikzhan Bilash who is a well-known Kazakh activist and he confirmed to Business Insider on June 28 through a WhatsApp message that the channel was back up. The same was confirmed by YouTube on Twitter. When the channel was blocked, the group had even said on Twitter, “We lost everything. The results of our nation's five years of hard work vanished overnight...The 'Atajurt Kazakh Human Rights Serikzhan Bilash' youtube channel cannot be terminated! It is the hope of all the three million innocent people detained in Xinjiang concentration camps!"

‘We have strict policies’

A Representative from YouTube was quoted by MIT Technology Review saying that the platform has “strict policies that prohibit harassment on YouTube, including doxing.” the official reportedly also acknowledged the “responsible efforts” that the human rights group made to document the cases of abuses across the world. The YouTube Representative reportedly added, “We also have policies that do not allow channels to publish personally identifiable information, in order to prevent harassment." 

The channel was reinstated within three days along with some of the videos out of the 12. For the remaining videos that still remain blocked, YouTube, however, has not yet provided any explanation. Reportedly, YouTube had asked the Atajurt Kazakh Human Rights to blur out the ID cards shown in the video when the talks were on to reinstate the videos. After the recent incident of the group’s channel getting blocked on YouTube, the group has since then backed up its content on blockchain-based video platform Odysee.

IMAGE: AP/Unsplash

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Published June 28th, 2021 at 12:10 IST

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