TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Chinese netizens on Wednesday (May 13) discovered that YouTube is automatically blocking the Chinese term "communist bandit" within 15 seconds.
On Wednesday, human rights activist Jennifer Zeng posted a video of a person entering the epithet "communist bandit" (共匪) in the comment box beneath a YouTube video. Within 15 seconds after posting the comment, it mysteriously and inexplicably disappears.
The term is an anti-communist insult which was first coined by the Kuomintang in the early 20th Century and was used extensively by the Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) government during the martial law era in Taiwan. The Chinese character "共" (gong), is short for 共產主義 (gongchan zhuyi, communism), while the character "匪" means "bandit," and was used extensively during China's Warlord Era.
Taiwan News typed the term in Chinese characters in the comment box in a few different YouTube videos and indeed within 15 seconds, the comment had been automatically excised. It is not clear why YouTube is automatically censoring this word.
YouTube has recently started to demonetize content that is critical of the Chinese Communist Party and China's handling of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
In the first screenshot below, Taiwan News posted the term below a video about Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping:
(YouTube screenshot)
Within 15 seconds, the comment was automatically deleted, as can be seen below:
(YouTube screenshot)
Update: 05/16
Netizens have discovered that 15 seconds after typing in "50 Cent Party" (五毛党), a term used to mock pro-CCP internet trolls, it will also be deleted. Even the shortened version, "50 Cent" (五毛), will be automatically removed.
#YouTube "automatically" deletes a comment in Chinese, "Gongfei", which means "communist bandit", in 15 seconds.
This person tested 3 times, same result. #油管 15秒內自動刪除「共匪」留言，網友連試三次皆如此。
他們找了個比李飛飛更厲害的AI專家？ pic.twitter.com/MLCeko0SIY
— Jennifer Zeng 曾錚 (@jenniferatntd) May 13, 2020
