Make sure to cross out “Oklahoma Governor banned from YouTube for promoting animal cruelty” from your 2023 Oklahoma Idiocracy Bingo Card.
As you may recall, Kevin Stitt made international news last week when a video of him supporting the Oklahoma Game Fowl Organization – the grassroots right-wing hillbilly group looking to overturn the will of the Oklahoma people and decriminalize cockfighting – was strutted around the Internet by animal rights activists.
Like all the other times Stitt makes national news, it was a pretty embarrassing moment for a state that specializes in embarrassing moments. To make the situation even more cringe, absurd, and newsworthy, YouTube then removed the video for violating its policy against promoting animal cruelty.
Via The Oklahoman:
Gov. Kevin Stitt's video praising the cockfight industry has been pulled from YouTube, the company said Monday. YouTube said Stitt's video violated the company's community guidelines by promoting cruelty to animals.
YouTube flagged Stitt's video over the weekend and issued a final ruling Monday that the video would not be reinstated and that no further review would be considered.
In a message to the group, Animal Wellness Action, YouTube said, “Content showing the malicious infliction of physical or psychological harm to animals isn't allowed on YouTube. We review educational, documentary, artistic, and scientific content on a case-by-case basis. Limited exceptions are made when sufficient context is included.”
First of all, I just want to say that I don’t think YouTube should have removed the video.