By the author of Be Ready for Anything and the online course Bloom Where You’re Planted
Yesterday, a woman opened fire on the offices of YouTube in San Bruno, California.
She shot 3 people before turning the gun on herself. Initial reports said this was a lover’s quarrel and that one of the victims was her boyfriend. But it turns out that this was incorrect. Other reports stated that the shooter was wearing a headscarf or hijab, sparking fears that this was an Islamic terror attack. Also wrong.
The shooter has been identified as Nasim Aghdam, a woman from San Diego, California. Aghdam was a YouTuber who had recently had her channels demonetized in the company’s crackdown. More on that in a minute.
Her father, Ismail Aghdam, reported her missing on Monday. Police found her sleeping in her car, 470 miles from home and notified her father that she was okay. Mr. Aghdam warned them that “she had spoken of her hatred of YouTube in recent weeks.” Despite that warning, in a story that is beginning to look all too familiar, the next thing that was heard of Ms. Aghdam was when she was found dead by authorities of a self-inflicted wound after opening fire at the YouTube headquarters.
The shooting was the result of what appears to be an unstable woman who was enraged at being censored.
The backstory
You’ve probably heard that YouTube has been cracking down lately on channels with which they disagree. Conservative channels, in particular, have noted that their channels have been demonetized – meaning they aren’t allowed to have ads – and more recently, YouTube instituted a ban on gun demo videos.
Nasim Aghdam used the name “Nasime Sabz” online and had more than 10,000 subscribers to her channels. According to
She posted upbeat videos of herself dancing and singing in English, Farsi and Turkish in front of a green screen. She was an animal rights activist and exercise devotee, and talked about going vegan. (source)
It seems that Ms. Aghdam was also a victim of YouTube’s sweeping new policies. She posted numerous online rants about the sudden demonetization and “filtering” of her numerous channels.
In one online rant, she complained that YouTube censored her content by imposing an age restriction on one of her workout videos because they were too racy. She says the company failed to do the same thing for stars like Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj, whose videos, she says, are inappropriate for children.
In a Facebook post from February 2017, Aghdam blasted YouTube saying, “There is no equal growth opportunity on YouTube.”
On her personal webpage, she posted another rant about YouTube saying, “Be aware…there is no free speech in real world and you will be suppressed for telling the truth that is not supported by the system. Videos of targeted users are filtered and merely relegated, so that people can hardly see their videos.” Aghdam also quotes Adolf Hitler, saying, “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.”
On her Instagram account she posted a video along with a caption reading, “What do you think of freedom of speech and does it really exist in western countries?” (source)
Zero Hedge reports that she wrote a “manifesto.” here are some excerpts:
“Be aware! Dictatorship exists in all countries but with different tactics! They only care for personal and short-term profits and do anything to reach their goals even by fooling simple-minded people, hiding the truth, manipulating science and everything, putting public mental and physical health at risk, abusing non-human animals, polluting the environment, destroying family values, promoting materialism and sexual degeneration in the name of freedom and turning people into programmed robots!” (source)
Her YouTube channels, Instagram, and Facebook pages have all been removed. Jack Posebic got some screenshots before they came down, including this one:
https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/981362375403204608
The Bottom Line
Obviously, I’m not endorsing someone shooting up a place of business. The point of this article is the media’s urge to control the narrative…the very thing that triggered this horrific incident in the first place. And no lesson was learned here – many outlets still wanted to make this about a jilted lover gone mad.
But it seems clear to me that this is the direct result of YouTube’s callousness in destroying a person’s business. When they make a decision, they don’t provide any real recourse. Sure, you can send them a message objecting but it is rare that their decision is overturned, and the reply will come as a form letter without any real information.
Obviously, shooting up the place is not the answer. Lawsuits, boycotts, and alternative social media platforms are alternate ways to air our grievances without anyone getting hurt.
Sadly, I’m afraid this won’t be the last tragedy related to our rapidly disappearing freedoms.
I think the simple answer would be a Conservative Youtube, tweeter, facebook, ect needs to be created. I know it would be a hit, make these other sites feel the crunch! I know easier said than done, it would take someone with the means and contacts…….
Check out Natural News. Mike Adams, the Health Ranger has an alt FB platform available and is in the process of setting up an alternative to You Tube. I personally find some NN stuff to be ‘out there’ but think it’s a good alt news site when one views multiple news sources.
Look at the history of the dad. Was a pedophile and did time 20 years ago. May not have been a great childhood for daughter. Looks like a set up for more gun control . and no need to get a separate YouTube TWITTER.RTC. They are headed for the dustbin shortly. Huge corruption, espionaga, etc coming down the road, as Yucky Zucky knew and sold on insider trading. along with tons of others. What aspects of the companies will be left who knows. But we can wait for the garage sale prices.
My “report”says that this shooting is another invention that cannot be objectively proved other than the official narrative, like the Parkland shooting hoax…
Hard to believe that after all these hoaxes people can believe without real proof what’s coming out of the liestream media…
Crazy is as Crazy does.
Anyone/ Everyone has a breaking point. The question is, “What tips the scales before someone acts out and does something destructive?” Case in point, Miss. Nasim Aghdam felt threatened, she tried to resolve her concerns but was ignored. Miss. Nasim Aghdam livelihood was threaten and there was no recourse for assistance or positive outcome. In short, Miss. Nasim Aghdam voice was stifled by YouTube’s policy and procedures. Miss. Nasim Aghdam took matters into her hands and went to the corporate offices of YouTube to physically provide her objections whereby her voice would and could be heard. Miss. Nasim Aghdam would have the final say – “BANG, BANG, You’re DEAD!!!”
I don’t agree with Miss. Nasim Aghdam and the way she had her final say; however, I do agree with her in that all these social media web sights have a major problem with their policies and procedures. Whereas it is true that these social media companies do provide a service and there are rules, policies and procedures that need to be followed. However, I say at what cost? If you take the time to read all the legal BS that these companies put out there before you sign up to use their services you will realize that they Reserve the Right(s) to anything and everything you put on/ in their media. They have the Right to do whatever they want, whenever they want. Furthermore, they have the Right to sell your information to third parties who in turn can gather any and all information about you through your social media participation and services and aim their advertisements directly at you. My studying you, they can custom tailored their ads to meet your tastes and goals with positive results for them, which is making more money.
In short, these social medias can behave anyway they want and Violate your Rights as an American Citizen as guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights because they put out for your agreement to follow their policies and procedures. By law, they have the Right to do this to you, their clientele, provided that they follow their own policy and procedures. When they don’t then they are in trouble.
Facebook is in trouble because they failed to follow their own policies and procedures. YouTube will soon follow because they changed they policies and procedures by discriminating against those they deem do not follow their new outlook.
The one thing that no one has discussed is the big white elephant in the room, how all these social medias allow the Government to interact unfettered and often times unrestricted access to various accounts on what is little more than a whim. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and the rest will just roll over and allow the Government easy access to your information and your account.
I don’t know about you, but, I have a problem with someone gathering information about me without my consent or knowledge and selling it to someone I know nothing about. Just recently I just had a Birthday. A few days later I get things in the mail from advertisers, wishing me a Happy Birthday. When I turned 50, I got AARP sending me stuff in the mail. They have not stopped for the past 11 years. I get funeral brochures and I’m not even sick yet. All in the name of profit. It is for this reason I do not use social media services save for two: The organic prepper / Daisy Luther and YouTube. I watch and learn from YouTube. I use it sparingly so that I do not leave an electric foot print. Of course when you speak out, you leave a footprint. So when you do speak out, make sure your footprint counts! Remember, the Government is listening too. Why do they need to know about me? Just so they can see me coming?
If a social media fails to adhere to your standards; then let them know. Make them listen. Hurt them where it counts – in the pocketbook. Money talks and BS walks! They will feel your pain when you move on to another site. Don’t be like Miss. Nasim Aghdam and try to deal with your problems at the point of a gun; for she lost the argument even though she had the last word, BANG!!!
Isn’t youtube a company with the same rights as any other? If you don’t meet the standards of a company even if those standards change after you sign on, don’t they have the right to remove you? Maybe I don’t understand the situation but to me this sounds very similar to a disgruntled employee “going postal”. If I’m misunderstanding this I’m open to clarification.