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Odysee, a decentralised YouTube alternative focused on free speech, is officially ending the serving of ads on the platform, starting today. The post:

"Dear friends of Odysee, Starting today, we’re removing all ads. We don’t need ads to make money as a platform and we are confident in the development of our own new monetisation programs that will help creators earn a living and at the same time keep Odysee alive. Ultimately, sacrificing the overall user experience to make a few bucks isn’t worth it to us and nor is it even sustainable for a platform that wishes to make something truly open and creatively free.

As we take this decision, one thing is certain to us, media platforms (even ones that market themselves as ‘free-speech’) typically devolve into advertising companies and end up becoming beholden to their paymasters. It’s been that way for centuries and is never going to change.

As we see YouTube become more aggressive with their ad deployment and ‘Free Speech’ platforms try to build their own ad businesses it’s apparent to us that we’re building a model for Odysee that will keep it sustainable not only financially, but in its ability to provide an incorruptible user experience.

Our approach may be considered niche or unconventional, that’s fine by us. Odysee will be used by the world on terms that are agreeable to its users, and we know our users don’t like ads.

Best, Founder & Creator, Chief Executive Officer. Julian Chandra"

    • Blubber28@lemmy.worldEnglish
      51·
      3 months ago

      Didn’t know about its existence but as they were proclaiming free speech that immediately sets off alarm bells. Sad to see my suspicion is once again correct.

    • OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.mlEnglish
      2569·
      3 months ago

      Thank goodness we have Lemmies ensuring no alternative tech can threaten YouTube. I was worried people might actually be against Odyssey in the comments

      • tomsh@lemmy.worldEnglish
        31·
        3 months ago

        This Lemmy community is actually more pro-mainstream than Reddit and YouTube combined. Thank you for pointing this out. Time to go.

        • Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          915·
          3 months ago

          Just a thing to think about, free speech is always going to appeal to Nazis, just as it should for most other people. Freedom of speech in the American sense where certain speech is not protected (such as screaming fire in a movie theater when there is no fire) is a right that we should continue to attempt to protect, even from people we disagree with (within reason, as mentioned above).

          • Schadrach@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
            21·
            3 months ago

            (such as screaming fire in a movie theater when there is no fire)

            This idiom comes from an analogy in a SCOTUS opinion arguing that checks notes it’s a violation of the Espionage Act to distribute flyers that oppose the draft. That case was later partly overturned in Brandenburg v Ohio and the standard is that speech isn’t incitement unless it is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action. To the point that “$SLUR should hang from trees” is probably protected speech (because the lawless action isn’t imminent), but “you guys, grab that $SLUR over there so we can string them up!” probably isn’t.

            So defending free speech inevitably means defending white supremacists and the like because free speech doesn’t actually protect anything if it doesn’t protect upsetting, outrageous, or offensive speech (and likewise, the arbiter of what counts as offensive is not guaranteed to always be on your side). It’s why the ACLU has defended them on more than one occasion. H.L. Mencken put it best.

            “The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one’s time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.” ― H.L. Mencken

              • Delta@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
                101·
                3 months ago

                We understood, it just didn’t contribute anything and appeared to actively defend nazis.

                • Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                  23·
                  3 months ago

                  Lol k

                  The portion of the left that seeks to censor everything, removing people’s freedoms in a misguided attempt to stop terrible ideas from spreading are just shooting yourselves in the foot long term. I say this as a staunch lefty

                  Not that anyone here cares to see nuance evidenced by somehow turning my comment into Nazi apologism regardless of what I directly stated.

                  • Delta@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
                    1·
                    3 months ago

                    Nice edit

                    In case anyone is curious the initial response was just that first line but they decided to try to save face. They mad