Voat and Bitchute are the platforms that convinced me censorship just radicalises people more. I tried to use Voat a number of times after the subreddits and communties I liked online were censored one by one, but each time this happened I noticed Voat got progressively more extremist as it started to become one of the last places that allowed that type of speech on the internet.
While I never felt I needed to use Voat the problem because there are many alternative communities online, I do feel I HAVE to use Bitchute if I want to watch some of my favourite creators because YouTube banned them for reasons I can't quite understand. I'm aware this is now exposing me to a lot more radical content than I would otherwise be exposed to if I was still watching on YouTube.
For example, just yesterday I shared a funny video I found on BitChute to a friend, but he wasn't able to view it because it was deemed potentially illegal in his country. It was a fairly innocent parody video so I didn't really get why it was banned until I took a look at the channel which was full of extreme and racist content.
I'm self-aware enough to know that exposing myself frequently enough to content like this could shift my views and I'm making efforts not to click on related views on Bitchute, but just to watch and support the content I used to enjoy on YouTube but it's obvious to me how many people can become radicalised by communities that consist solely of radicals that have been banned from the more mainstream platforms.
Here's the video btw, https://www.bitchute.com/video/AlSYTmkVfUFw/ I love Bill Gates and don't agree with all the conspiracies surrounding him but I did find this parody kinda funny. I'm a big South Parks fan though, and it reminds me a lot of that.
While I never felt I needed to use Voat the problem because there are many alternative communities online, I do feel I HAVE to use Bitchute if I want to watch some of my favourite creators because YouTube banned them for reasons I can't quite understand. I'm aware this is now exposing me to a lot more radical content than I would otherwise be exposed to if I was still watching on YouTube.
For example, just yesterday I shared a funny video I found on BitChute to a friend, but he wasn't able to view it because it was deemed potentially illegal in his country. It was a fairly innocent parody video so I didn't really get why it was banned until I took a look at the channel which was full of extreme and racist content.
I'm self-aware enough to know that exposing myself frequently enough to content like this could shift my views and I'm making efforts not to click on related views on Bitchute, but just to watch and support the content I used to enjoy on YouTube but it's obvious to me how many people can become radicalised by communities that consist solely of radicals that have been banned from the more mainstream platforms.
Here's the video btw, https://www.bitchute.com/video/AlSYTmkVfUFw/ I love Bill Gates and don't agree with all the conspiracies surrounding him but I did find this parody kinda funny. I'm a big South Parks fan though, and it reminds me a lot of that.