A YouTuber is now in hiding after terrorists obtained his information by filing a fake DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown.
A Germany employee of the YouTube show Al Hayat TV, which is notably critical of Islam and consists of individuals who used to be of the Islam faith before converting to Christianity, received a copyright strike from YouTube ordered by “FirstCrist, Copyright.” In order for his channel to not be taken down by the video-sharing site, he was told to provide his identity. After doing so, he then received a death threat from “FirstCrist, Copyright” via email, reading: “thank you for your personal data. […] take care your house gets police protection!”
Al Hayat TV has been branded “anti-Islamic” for its openly critical views on Islam.
According to German newspaper FAZ, the YouTuber has now “gone into hiding” after it was made clear that terrorists had got a hold of his personal information due to the copyright strike.
Upon receiving the DMCA takedown, YouTube sent the man the following email (roughly translated from German): “Upon receipt of your reply we will forward it to the user who submitted the original copyright claim. Note that in forwarding the message allows your personal data to be sent. By submitting a counter-notification, you consent to having your data be disclosed in this manner. We derive the reply only to the original complainant further.”
After the man had unwittingly agreed to having his information shared with terrorists, he was then reportedly forced to abandon his position at the YouTube channel out of fear for his life.
This is certainly the most awful example of YouTube’s lackluster method of dealing with the DMCA to date, and if it gains traction outside of the German media then hopefully it will force them to reform their policies altogether.
YouTube’s DMCA policies are notoriously shoddy, as they allow almost anybody to file a copyright claim, rightly or wrongly, with some individuals even managing to perform a DMCA takedown of YouTubers they don’t personally like, despite said YouTubers having done nothing to violate the DMCA itself. This is certainly the most awful example of YouTube’s lackluster method of dealing with the DMCA to date, and if it gains traction outside of the German media then hopefully it will force them to reform their policies altogether.
