14 DAY TRIAL // M.I.A. has never backed down from making a statement even if it has meant trouble for her on more than one occasion. Her latest video is no different, a nine-minute clip, which can be hard to watch at times, directed by Romain Gavras. Some are praising it as no-nonsense political commentary, others are appalled by the gore fest. But the explicit nature of the video proved too much for YouTube, it seems, which removed some copies of it and labeled others as restricted for those 18+.
The video depicts an armed police force, sporting US flags on their uniforms, raiding a building and rounding up redheaded men. The police is not short of violence and brute force, with much of the video dedicated to their behavior. The redheaded men are then carried to a desert location where they are tortured and killed in graphic detail. It’s a clear statement against the treatment of minorities and abuses by powerful states like the US. There are plenty of scenes that few have the stomach for, which is likely why it was reported by YouTube users as inappropriate.
YouTube hasn’t made any official comments for the reason behind the removals. While, on the face of it, it may look like YouTube is overreaching and going against Google’s stated principles, removing videos after user complaints is not anything new. YouTube policies are pretty clear about the type of content that can be uploaded and M.I.A.’s video probably violates at least a couple of them.
In fact, judging by previous cases, YouTube is taking a pretty lenient stance, as the official video is still available if you can verify you are of age. When contacted, YouTube representatives would not comment on the individual video, but did say that the site did restrict videos that might not be suitable for all ages.
"Our policy is to age-restrict content that has been flagged by the community and identified by our policy enforcement team as content that, while not violating our community guidelines, is not suitable for users under age 18," YouTube stated.
The video is controversial enough and having it pulled by YouTube only helps. And, since the video is still available on YouTube, as well as on Vimeo and on M.I.A.’s own site, the fans don’t really have anything to complain about. In fact, all of the commotion probably helped to hype M.I.A.’s upcoming third album even more.