No, de-monetization is not censorship

Welcome to the Middle Nation. This is Shahid Bolson. If you spend any time on social media, you're bound to notice that there's a lot of people on there complaining that they are being denied free speech. You a Russian citizen? I mean, never mind the fact that they're right there in your face talking to you about all of the free speech they don't have.

I mean, for people who don't have any free speech, they should do speech a lot. But, of course, what they actually mean most of the time is that they have been demonetized. That's the new definition of censorship. If you can't make any money from speaking, then you have no free speech. The irony is lost on them.

Their speech is only free if they can profit from it. But I don't wanna just make jokes about this because really monetization can be a problem. The truth is that nothing will be more likely to censor your free speech than when you are trying to make money off of it. As soon as you start making money from your content, you will start to tailor your content to attract more people because more people means more money. Then you'll start saying things that more people want to hear, and then you're no longer expressing yourself and sharing your own thoughts with integrity.

You'll be more concerned about the bankability of your words than the honesty. And, of course, you will inevitably start to avoid subjects that would potentially jeopardize your revenue. When you're monetized, you're not going to say things that might get you demonetized. Whereas if you've never been making money off of your content, you're free to say as you like. When your income is derived from how many people are following your content, you will start to follow your followers.

You will start to follow the likes and interests and opinions of your target demographic because you don't want them to leave you, and you want to attract more followers like them. So you'll just start repeating stuff back to them that they have already approved from you. The things that helped you grow your channel, you'll just keep doing. Monetization is a trap. Monetization can actually hinder free speech.

And frankly, monetization has seriously eroded the quality of the content on platforms like YouTube. Look. There's no reason why you should get paid for your opinions. If someone values your expertise and insights in some particular field, they can hire you and pay for your services. But why on earth should you get paid for voluntarily uploading content that no one asked for?

I mean, yes, journalists get paid by newspapers primarily from the ad revenue that those newspapers generate. So you could say that they're getting a cut of the advertising just like YouTubers get a cut of the advertising revenue that YouTube makes when they monetize. But journalists are hired employees. They've been recruited, interviewed, and trained. Newspapers don't pay people who voluntarily submit letters to the editor.

And as a Muslim, shouldn't you be cognizant of the fact that you can't choose which companies, which goods and services get advertised on your channel? Are you comfortable earning money from ads that may be dishonest, unethical, or maybe promoting products or services, goods that could potentially even be haram? I mean, there's only so much that search engine optimization can do in terms of being selective about what types of ads appear on your videos. And there's no guarantee that ads will not appear on your videos that contain things that are not in line with Islamic values. Sure.

The ads going to appear one way or the other. There's nothing you can do to stop them, but at least you don't have to take money from that. And the reality is you have to be getting hundreds of thousands of views per month in order for you to make anything like a substantial income. Otherwise, it's just gonna be a few dollars here and there. And is it really worth it to compromise your integrity and risk promoting things that are potentially un Islamic just for a little side income?

I mean, if you're selling something or you're providing specialized individualized content on a platform like Patreon, that's different. That's people choosing to value your content by purchasing it. But general monetization, it seems insidious to me in terms of your own authenticity and honesty and your values. So if you get demonetized, consider that as a mercy from Allah. One is preventing you from speaking.

You can still upload. You can still express yourself. You just won't make any money from it, but that actually just gives you more freedom. Now, if any of your content gets removed from a platform, that's closer to censorship, but I don't think it would still really qualify as censorship. I mean, your right to free speech never meant a right to a platform, but it is closer to censorship than demonetization is.

But here it's important to recognize that social media platforms are not the public square, and we should never accept them as such. Censorship was always the prerogative of the state, and it dealt with what can and cannot be said or published legally, not what can or cannot be said profitably. So if you are equating Facebook or YouTube demonetizing your content to state censorship, then you are equating those social media companies with the state. You've gotten so accustomed to the idea that corporate controlled spaces are the only spaces. Well, corporations are authoritarian, so you can't very well treat the spaces that they control as the only viable public spaces and also expect free speech.

No newspaper, magazine, television program, or radio show is obligated to publish you or invite you on as a guest. Speaking your mind is your right. Having a platform to do so is not, and certainly getting paid to do so is not your right. This is just how infected we have become with the materialistic business mindset. Every single human endeavor doesn't have to be about money.

Market value is not the only metric of value that there is. If you already have a computer or a smartphone and an Internet connection, it costs you literally nothing to record and upload content to the Internet. And there are plenty of free options available online for publishing your ideas. So why does it have to be profitable in order for it to be worthwhile? If you think you have things to say that people can benefit from, you should not only be willing to share those ideas if you can make money from it.

You should do it because you care about benefiting people and you're passionate about sharing your ideas. Don't let money interfere with your niyas such that if you're not making any money, you'll lose interest in sharing your thoughts and feel like it's all a waste of time. This is all a manifestation of love for dunya. And if the Muslims had functioned in this way throughout history, Islam would have never been triumphant. So my advice is this, to anyone who is using social media as a vehicle for sharing your ideas and opinions, don't monetize.

Don't chase followers and subscribers. Don't be overly concerned about growing or marketing your channel or your platform. Just produce quality content with integrity and honesty and find another way to make a living.