YouTube says removal of comments against Chinese Communist Party 'an error'

Google-owned video service YouTube said Tuesday it was probing the removal of comments critical of the Chinese Communist Party from the video-sharing platform, saying the filtering appeared to be "an error," reported news agency AFP

The comments came after a media report in The Verge prompted by complaints from technology entrepreneur Palmer Luckey.

Luckey, a founder of the virtual reality group Oculus who is now with a defence tech firm, tweeted on Monday that "YouTube has deleted every comment I ever made about the Wumao, an internet propaganda division of the Chinese Communist Party," and suggested the filtering appeared to be a new policy of censorship, the report added.

Other Twitter users responded to Luckey's tweet that they, too, believed comments about the CCP had been removed.

YouTube said in a statement it had made no policy changes and that its filters are designed to remove only "spammy, hateful or harassing comments" from the platform.

"This appears to be an error in our enforcement systems and we are investigating," a YouTube spokesperson said of the complaints.

"Users can report suspected issues to troubleshoot errors and help us make product improvements."

(With inputs from AFP)