TL;DR: A Leftist YouTube channel was deleted without notice. This is a Direct Action campaign to restore the channel and pressure YouTube into addressing the problem of false flag troll campaigns properly.

UPDATE: The Serfs channel has now been completely restored. This is a wonderful example of how we can accomplish things quickly and efficiently through DIRECT ACTION.

HOWEVER, to my knowledge YouTube still hasn’t explained why this was allowed to happen, nor how they will prevent False Flag campaigns from hurting creators in the future, so in my mind this campaign is not yet over (only 1 of the 3 demands below have been met).

Some LESSONS LEARNED From Our Partial Victory:

1. DIRECT ACTION WORKS. In less than 48 hours we got YouTube to reverse their decision, when most channels go weeks or months without being restored, or never get restored at all.

2. Plan Templates Are Useful: Personally, I found myself spending a lot of time explaining to people who wanted to help what to do and how to do it. If I’d made this Direct Action Plan earlier on I could have just shared this link.

3. Re: demands and calls to action: When we started the Direct Action Campaign we only had one demand, which was to restore The Serfs TV. While we did accomplish this, we should have widened the scope a bit to also demand with every action that YouTube explains publicly what happened and outlines how they will prevent it from happening in the future. Otherwise this is a temporary and superficial victory and the Alt Right trolls can continue to use false flagging as an effective time wasting/wheel spinning technique to sap momentum from our movement. Demands should always focus on the system, not just the symptom, and movements are not finished until the system is fixed!

SITUATION: The Serfs is a YouTube comedy channel that engages lightly in leftist politics. A false flagging troll campaign maliciously flagged their videos as “spamming” and “scamming” (which they never engaged in in any way) and the account was deleted without any notification or warning yesterday, April 1 (and no, this was NOT an April Fools joke).

The channel has since been reactivated but ALL of their videos were deleted.

This is a critical situation for the leftist community in particular and for free speech in general. If false flag trolls are given this kind of power then we are all threatened by these underhanded tactics.

AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL!

We have initiated a direct action campaign to demand that YouTube fully restore The Serfs’ channel and properly address this problem, and take steps to prevent this from ever happening again.

OUR DEMANDS:

We demand that YouTube immediately take the following actions:

1. FULLY restore The Serfs channel, including the undeletion of ALL videos.

2. Properly address what happened with The Serfs. Explain what happened and why it happened.

3. Disclose the steps YouTube will take to prevent such false flag troll campaigns from harming creators moving forward.

We must not end our Direct Action campaign until ALL THREE OF THESE DEMANDS ARE MET. Simply restoring The Serfs is NOT SUFFICIENT. Until YouTube fully and properly addresses this situation we will remain vulnerable to these kinds of attacks.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

We recommend you do all of the following to fully support the Direct Action campaign, but we will list actions in order from simplest to most involved.

Tweet to YouTube:

Tweet @TeamYouTube and @YouTube. Tell them we demand that they fully restore The Serfs’ deleted videos, explain what happened, and disclose how they will prevent this from happening in the future. Use the hashtag #SerfsUP

Contact YouTube Feedback (see images below)

In the YouTube app use the “Send Feedback” option, in a browser click “help” then select “send feedback” in your account dropdown. You can chat, email, or even call to explain the situation and our demands.

How to Send Feedback on Mobile App

How to Send Feedback on Browser

Start a Thread in YouTube Community

Use this link to start a thread explaining the situation and outlining our demands.

Make a Video, Live Stream, Blog Post, etc. About the Situation

If you are a Content Creator or you have any sort of platform/audience, consider making content that calls attention to the problem of False Flag Trolling, what happened to the Serfs, and calling on people to participate in this Direct Action Campaign.

Think about everything that’s been accomplished on the YouTube platform for the left.

Hbomberguy raised $350,000 for Mermaids. ContraPoints has deradicalized countless people from the alt right. Thousands of us have come together and shared leftist messages on this platform. Until we have this fully resolved, this movement is entirely vulnerable on this platform and all of this progress can easily be stopped by a few false flag trolls.

Act now! Demand that YouTube pay attention and address these problems!

Workers of the world, unite!