EXCLUSIVE: Vimeo Removes Videos Against Safe Schools and Transgender Ideology for Hate Speech
Video hosting website Vimeo has removed a series of video presentations against the Safe Schools program and transgender ideology released by the Coalition Against UnSafe Sexual Education (CAUSE) for alleged hate speech.
CAUSE was formed at the beginning of 2018 to stop the Safe Schools program, which teaches LGBT ideology and radical gender theory as well as other associated sexual education programs. It has been particularly active in the state of Victoria as it’s where the original Safe Schools program designed by Marxist academic Roz Ward is still taught in its original form in all state schools.
CAUSE was a supporter of the Rally Against Safe Schools outside Victoria’s Parliament in April organised by Stand Up for Parents Rights – Stop Sexualising our Children. CAUSE has also sponsored public information meetings about the program.
It has been active during the current Victorian state election campaign, letterboxing flyers against Safe Schools in marginal electorates and erecting corflute signs and billboards in public places. Daniel Andrews’ Labor Government continues to support the Safe Schools program while the Liberal Matthew Guy Opposition has vowed to scrap it. These election materials have been authorized by the Rise Up Australia Party who are not running in the state election, though CAUSE has stated there is no offical affiliation between the two groups.
CAUSE had released on its website 16 video presentations to help educate the public about the truth about Safe Schools program and transgender ideology, 12 of these videos featured Dr John Whitehall is Professor of Paediatrics at Western Sydney University who is a critic of the movement to have gender confused children undergo medical gender transitions.
The other 4 videos feature Dianne Colbert a family counselor, the Chair of the Family Values Alliance Ballarat and Founding Director of All Nations Christian Mental Health Association. Colbert is also running as an independent candidate for seat of Buninyong at the state election. The CAUSE website also features other informational videos and resources for members of the public.
CAUSE had chosen Vimeo to host these video presentations, which unlike YouTube charges $9AUD a month to have videos hosted on the platform. These 16 videos were posted in late October however on November 14th CAUSE received an email from Vimeo stating “A Vimeo moderator marked your account for review for the following reason: Vimeo does not allow videos that harass, incite hatred, or include discriminatory or defamatory speech and that “You need to take the following action as soon as possible: Please download your videos within the next 24 hours, as this will assure that you will be able to keep them upon closure of your account”. It is likely a complaint from an LGBT activist or advocate triggered this course of action from Vimeo.
CAUSE Chair Ed Sparrius responded by stating that “I understand that some members of the community may not be happy with the content of these videos, however, they contain accurate information. We do not expect to be censored simply because someone becomes offended by what we present” and that at CAUSE we “acknowledge the importance of every person and the right of every person to live their lives as they want”.
Sparrius listed the credentials and expertise of Dr John Whitehall and Dianne Colbert to speak on these topics along with several of their references used in the videos. His email concluded with “we have handled this information sensitively and with respect for all involved. We do not expect to be censored because someone might have a contrary view. On that basis much of the content of sites like Vimeo would be removed”.
Despite Sparrius’s email response Vimeo today removed the CAUSE account “for violating Vimeo’s Terms of Service (https://vimeo.com/terms) and/or Guidelines (https://vimeo.com/help/guidelines). Your videos fall under the following: No videos that are hateful, harass others, or include defamatory or discriminatory speech; No videos that make derogatory or inflammatory statements about individuals or groups of people; No videos that use coded or veiled language to attack a particular group”.
The videos are still available on the CAUSE website for people to access but are now hosted by BitChute, a video hosting website that upholds free speech. But CAUSE’s experience with Vimeo demonstrates that it is another big tech company that is prepared to cater to the demands of progressive left activists and deplatform videos are deemed too conservative, or fall under the very loose definition of hate speech.
