YouTube has limited the spread of Conservative advocate and filmmaker Aaron Gunn’s new documentary “Canada is Dying” for allegedly having “excessive violence” and the decision has forced him to release the production on Twitter.
Despite the move to limit the sharing of the film, the documentary has been viewed over 1.2 million times already and Gunn suspects that the censorship could rob the documentary of a potential $10,000 in ad revenue or nearly 2 million views.
24 hours after decision by @YouTube to censor & limit distribution of Canada Is Dying, and I already estimate they have prevented 50,000 people from viewing the documentary.
— Aaron Gunn (@AaronGunn) June 14, 2023
Expect that number to reach 2 million.
Control what people see, to control what they think. pic.twitter.com/seIRIVb1EC
“This insidious form of censorship, without regard for free speech or even basic transparency, directly contradicts YouTube’s commitment to ‘open debate’ and ‘free expression’ and also raises important, unanswered questions as to whether political pressure contributed to YouTube’s actions almost 3 weeks after the film’s release,” Gunn told True North.
It is unclear which part of the documentary in particular violated YouTube’s rules despite repeated requests for an explanation, according to Gunn.
“This is an overtly political decision that will essentially stop the spread of the documentary and work to suffocate a very important and ongoing debate in the country,” tweeted Gunn on Tuesday.
“Whether this is the result of political pressure or C-11 is impossible to say, but it should be noted the film has been openly attacked and targeted by sitting cabinet ministers of the Trudeau Government.”
Wow. After reaching 1.2 MILLION views in just two weeks, @YouTube has made the decision to arbitrarily censor and block Canada Is Dying so that it can no longer be seen by the vast majority of Canadians.
— Aaron Gunn (@AaronGunn) June 13, 2023
This is an overtly political decision that will essentially stop the spread…
Gunn pointed to Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s commitment to free speech as the reason behind deciding to re-release the film on the social media platform.
“Since coming under new ownership, Twitter has shown a determination to facilitate, rather than manipulate, free and open debate. Because of my commitment to ensure this documentary reaches as wide an audience as possible, I will be posting the documentary, in full, to Twitter later today for all Canadians to see,” said Gunn.
The nearly hour and a half film features interviews with victims of random stabbings, Crown attorneys, local residents of areas hit by crime, law enforcement, federal MPs and others.
According to Gunn, the film is still available for viewing but only for those who have a YouTube account and it is no longer being distributed by the YouTube algorithm, cutting off “about 90%” of the documentary’s reach.
Last year, Gunn had released a similar film called “Vancouver is Dying,” highlighting the city’s drug and crime crisis. The film has been viewed over three million times.
The documentary will be released on Twitter tomorrow.
