YouTube admits bitcoin ban was a mistake

In a statement provided to media outlet Decrypt earlier today,Youtube stated that the removal of crypto content on its site this week was “an error.” "With the massive volume of videos on our site, sometimes we make the wrong call," a YouTube spokesman said. The news follows previous reports of hundreds of crypto content creators receiving notices that their videos were in breach of terms and services, and removed from Youtube’s website.

Why it matters:

• Despite no longer being an issue of deliberate censorship, the incident nevertheless highlights the ever-present risk of centralized platform operators utilizing their power to deplatform users. It is no surprise that the crypto community used the incident as a rallying cry for building decentralized social media alternatives.
• The reports follow the recent announcement of BlueSky, a Jack Dorsey led, Twitter funded initiative to build an open and decentralized standard for social media. As Ryan stated in our 2020 crypto theses, “in the face of continued challenges to free speech across the media landscape, expect to see more calls for protocols, not platforms.”