Actress Bella Thorne slammed big tech companies after YouTube removed her latest music video, and then put it back on the platform with restrictions. The actress-singer says that big tech is getting to “play God” and said their behavior is “endangering American freedom.”
“They just restricted me again, and again, and again. I think it’s so unfair and so wrong that they get to make right and wrong,” Thorne said in an interview with Fox News. “They get to play God. Why do these Big Tech companies get to play God? Who made them God? It’s endangering American freedom.”
Thorne said that YouTube reinstated the music video for her song “Shake It” only after she publicly condemned the video-sharing platform on social media, which caused her fanbase to become outraged.
“Hey @youtube – why’d you take down my video for Shake It? Is it because I’m having fun with @dangershewrote? Male artists always have women shaking ass in videos… why can’t we?” lamented Thorne on Twitter last month. “Censorship against women needs to end!!! I’ll never stop fighting against this bull%h*t. Stay tuned.”
But when YouTube reinstated her music video, the company placed an age-restriction on it, followed by a “shocking restriction,” according to Thorne, who added that this action essentially marks her music video as “explicit,” which limits users from easily accessing the video through online search.
“They’re saying the video is ‘so shocking’ that I’m making out with this girl,” Thorne said. “Can we talk about how ridiculous this is? There’s no nudity in the video. We’re doing a hip-hop routine and making out. This is so explicit to the world that the world can’t see it.”
Throne said the restrictions have since been lifted.
Watch Below:
The actress added, however, that she is now worried about the power that big tech has, and wants to see a reform of Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which gives liability protections for Big Tech platforms on the Internet.
“All of Big Tech is guilty,” Thorne said. “They have so much power and they’re also not using their power in the right way. Put your power where it actually makes a difference.”
Thorne said while these social media companies police certain content, they are not being held accountable for dangerous content, such as footage of obscene violence, as well bullying on message boards and in comments sections.
“There are threads on the Internet featuring people telling someone to ‘go kill yourself.’ You can go on the Internet and find someone’s brain being smashed in,” Throne said. “The Internet is a dark a — place and Big Tech is focusing on the wrong things. You have all of these problems in front of you that they could fix, and they don’t.”
“The message that they’re sending is that they are God, and they will decide what you’re going to do,” the actress added. “They’re going to decide your career, they get to decide if your fans see this video or not. They get to decide if they see your art. That is unfair.”
Bella Thorne says that she believes the situation will change if the narrative changes.
“I think it’ll really change the narrative if people get involved. Of course, what my fans did was so helpful. But this is a bigger debate,” Throne said. “What about the millions of kids who have killed themselves after being bullied on your platform publicly for the whole world to see?”
“How come Big Tech isn’t taking a harsh — look at their own standards and putting them directly in focus with how they are hurting communities?” Thorne added. “Where’s the liability?”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler @alana, and on Instagram.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.