This is kind of weird, like Oliver Darcy’s somewhat obsessive quest to have Alex Jones banned from Twitter. April Glaser not only wrote a piece for Slate on what she found when searching YouTube for abortion; she apparently asked for YouTube to change the results, and YouTube complied.
Search for "abortion" on YouTube last week and the top results were a horrifying mix of gore and dangerous misinformation. YouTube changed the results after I asked https://t.co/sNjQncSrNS
— april glaser (@aprilaser) December 21, 2018
“Dangerous misinformation” — on the Internet? Whoa, give us a moment to process that.
It's worth noting that YouTube is the second most popular search engine in the world. And its answers on women's health matter
— april glaser (@aprilaser) December 21, 2018
We could argue that a pregnant woman isn’t “sick,” and so abortion’s not a matter of women’s health in almost all instances; a matter of convenience, sure.
A point that got edited out: In April, the Dept of Health shared funding guidelines that encouraged abstinence sex ed over teaching contraception. Only 24 states and DC require sex ed be taught in public schools. And the internet is playing an increasingly important role here
— april glaser (@aprilaser) December 21, 2018
Yeah, and a point that didn’t quite get enough attention in the original tweet: videos of abortion would be a horrifying mix of gore, plain and simple.
But YouTube has changed the search results, so it’s all good now. Check it out:
I emailed YouTube Friday afternoon asking why anti-abortion videos saturated the search results for “abortion,” and if the platform thought accurate, health-focused information had a place there. By Monday morning, before the company got back to me, the search results had changed to include a number of news outlets among the top results, including a video from Vice about how women trying to get abortions are being stymied by anti-abortion centers that masquerade as clinics.
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Hard to imagine a conservative activist could get this kind of action. https://t.co/13VjSBH8b0
— Drew McCoy (@_Drew_McCoy_) December 22, 2018
So, you asked for the truth to be buried? #AbortionStopsABeatingHeart
— Sandy (@RightGlockMom) December 22, 2018
Advocating for censorship online? Our hero!
— Justin (@justin_ksu) December 22, 2018
Oh good thanks so much, I love censorship!!!
— delayogame (@delayOgame) December 22, 2018
Something’s wrong if it’s “horrifying” and your reaction is to get it out of your (and everyone’s) sight to preserve your perspective.
— Ian Shetron (@IanKShetron) December 22, 2018
So hiding the truth is how you like things to be. Nice.
— EnoughWithTheOutrage (@nathanmills) December 22, 2018
You were surprised abortion would be gory? Not given the subject much thought, perhaps?
— Knit'n Kitten (@Knitn_Kitten) December 22, 2018
Yes the truth often hurts and isn’t pleasant. You can force YouTube to censor all the gruesome facts about abortion you like but it doesn’t change the fact that abortion is and always will be the slaughter of the most innocent of human beings.
— Rosy Red Virginia Belle (@kt1varose629) December 22, 2018
The doctor is literally ripping out tissue out of a body, it is pretty gory
— William (@LastWordWilliam) December 22, 2018
We’re reminded of that undercover video of a former StemExpress employee recounting her first day on the job, using tweezers to sift through “a clear pie dish full of ‘POC’ — products of conception.” That was pretty gory.
"What did you do today?"
"I suppressed the truth of the goriness of abortion!"— Simon Reye (@SimonReye) December 22, 2018
How do you think abortions get done? It's gory.
— The_Gorn (@TheGorn4) December 22, 2018
This doesn't help your cause.
— Sorta something (@James_Hiler) December 22, 2018
Well abortion isn’t pretty last I checked
— Max Chang (@MaxChangg) December 22, 2018
Oh bc in truth abortion is a gore-free, painless, morally neutral process. Got it. Glad we’re preventing that “misinformation” from reaching women who are trying to make informed decisions.
— Sara R (@SaraR66027876) December 22, 2018
What he said. pic.twitter.com/VGl0N8LCZA
— us_pinay (@us_pinay) December 22, 2018
You're a person for whom TRUTH is very inconvenient… And banning it is fascist — but that's what progressives do. #ProLife #abortion #DefundPlannedParenthood #DefundPP
— Greg Halvorson (@GregHBlog) December 22, 2018
Abortion IS gory, child. The species is human. The heart beats. The "doctor" needs to stop the heart beating. In other words, kill. So, yeah, honey, murder is gory.
— Sunflower Sarah (@SunflowerSarah5) December 22, 2018
Ripped apart baby parts tend to be pretty gory, don't you think?
Since that is what occurs as the result of an abortion, it is unclear what reality you are opposed to?
— Dragon Soup, Inc. (@Qin_Jiushao) December 22, 2018
Yes – there is absolutely no “gore” involved in abortion. Decapitating, tearing the fetus limb by limb, and suctioning the brain is as clean as it gets folks!
— Sarah Wiers Sieplinga (@SarahWS11790) December 22, 2018
Abortion IS gory, you can’t algorithm that away.
It’s killing a human being, cutting them into manageable pieces, then extracting them from other human being, through the vagina.
— Moe (@ViciousHeathen) December 22, 2018
You're a sad sad woman. Definitely not the heroine you think you are. #AbortionIsMurder
— Vinson Ousley (@VinsonOusley) December 22, 2018
Related:
Nancy Pelosi calls for investigation into whether PP videos were faked (Bonus: She hasn't watched them) http://t.co/P4ZqXxoYsH
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 27, 2015
‘Made my heart hurt’: Comedians fail to deliver in NARAL’s ‘irreverent and lighthearted’ abortion video https://t.co/UyoMsq2VYy
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 14, 2016
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