Being accused of censorship is like being associated with the devil

Mar 27, 2012 07:46 GMT  ·  By
YouTube reactivates account after the company's executives were threatened by Anonymous
   YouTube reactivates account after the company's executives were threatened by Anonymous

On March 25, Anonymous hacktivists accused YouTube of censorship after TheAnonMessage account was blocked. The hackers warned YouTube executives that if the account will not be unlocked in 72 hours, they will unleash hell upon them. YouTube complied.

“Your block to TheAnonMessage's account has directly violated first amendment rights of the constitution of the United States. This violation stands against everything our collective believes in,” Anonymous wrote.

“By speaking out against the viral Kony twenty twelve video, Youtube has decided to block a voice of truth.”

It was uncertain what Anonymous had in store for the company’s C-level management, but it sounded pretty bad.

“However, we will take a course of action that will have YouTube executives awake at night and afraid for their sanity. No censorship. Knowledge is free,” the video statement concludes.

The hackers also highlighted the fact that the message was not directed to the YouTube website, since it’s considered to be a “medium of communication and knowledge that has fallen in the wrong hands.”

A few hours ago, long before the deadline ended, YouTube restored the account, much to the satisfaction of the Anonymous community.

“BREAKING: GREAT NEWS! @YouTube has unlocked my account and unblocked the censored video in response to yesterday's threat!” the owner of TheAnonMessage account wrote on Twitter.

As it turns out Anonymous threats are taken very seriously these days by companies, even big ones such as YouTube. On the other hand, YouTube representatives may have unlocked the channel because of the censorship accusations.

As we’ve seen in many situations recently, being accused of censorship these days is like being associated with the devil, or even worse.

Here's the video statement made by Anonymous:

Note. My Twitter account has been erroneously suspended. While this is sorted out, you can contact me via my author profile.