Bitchute.com is a video website created by Ray Vahey and was released in January 3, 2017. The site utilizes the use of peer-to-peer WebTorrent technology, a JavaScript torrenting program that allows users to diffuse, redistribute and ease bandwidth and issues of centralized streaming. The Technology would also make it more difficult for companies and governments to censor or remove content from the site after it's uploaded.
BitChute is considered one of the most popular alternatives to YouTube.
Playlists of videos that have been banned from Youtube
History
BitChute old logo
According with Ray Vahey, one of the main reasons for the creation of BitChute was due to the increase of censorship in the popular sites (mainly YouTube) and he wanted to do something about it and then eventually, he would develop BitChute.[1]
When the site was released, he posted with the name of "This is the first video on #BitChute"
Overview and Flaws
BitChute's layout is a little different compared to others and unlike most video websites, BitChute's loading screen when you open it, the popular channels are displayed too and another notable thing is the fact that BitChute uses DISQUIS for the comment system, unlike all other video websites, it seems that the most popular videos in BitChute are politics-related (due to the freedom from censorship on the site), the most popular users being "Sargon of Akkad", with 83,306 subscribers,[2] and "Styxhexenhammer666", with 141,698 subscribers[3] as of October 8, 2021.
However, the site does suffer from a number of drawbacks that may turn off those looking to find a proper YouTube alternative. Such as:
- Poor video resolution (max. 480p but up to 120fps)
- Its unfortunate name “BitChute”
- Unreliable search engine
- No privacy settings (please elaborate)
- Lack of monetization (but donations are possible)
- Slow uploading speeds
- Long video processing times
- Sometimes an uploaded video that is stuck on processing for too long gets completely pruned and the uploader is forced to retry.
- No automatic thumbnail generation
- No drag & drop uploading support for videos or thumbnails
- Non-edible video details during upload
- Ugly all-uppercase video title on watch page (using CSS code “
text-transform:uppercase” in common.css at “#page-bar .page-title”) - Basic features behind a pay wall
- Playlists
- Multiple channels
- Occasional (but rather rare) outages
- Videos aren't actually decentralized as they require their torrent tracker data and require them to seed the torrent, as without a seed, the video can not play and there is no connection to Bittorrent, meaning that BitChute delivers the content entirely on their own, which means they're free to censor creators as they see fit, leading some to think that they might just be pandering to the alt right for either the positive reputation or profit.[4]
But the site has been liked for its ability to allow users to download videos through page saving or through the multimedia item list in Firefox/Waterfox'es “Page Information” feature (because the video is not generated as a blob resource like on YouTube, Twitter and Dailymotion but lower-level HTML5), the easy process of getting an account and allowing YouTube videos to be easily archived on the site.
It's also possible automatically to mirror a YouTube channel's uploads, allowing one to upload backups without even using the site, though you can only link one YouTube channel per BitChute channel.
Controversies
Because of the freedom from a censorship policy on BitChute, the site has been criticized for being a safe haven for those with far-right ideologies along with conspiracy theories. The Southern Poverty Law Center has described BitChute for hosting "hate-fueled material" and described it as a "low-rent YouTube clone".
In the aftermath of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, BitChute would be banned from PayPal in November 2018 without PayPal themselves stating a reason.
BitChute would be banned in Australia and New Zealand in March 2019 after both governments would crack down on sites that would show the Christchurch Mosque Shootings.
Conversely, there are some debate of BitChute's fidelity to its free speech ideals -- certain channels or videos have been known to be blocked based on the user's country (such as Europe) and necessitating a VPN to access, and in December 2020, BitChute removed the account of political party the Nordic Resistance Movement for the claimed reason of breaching the site's guidelines.
Gallery
External links
References
- ↑ Maxwell, Andy (January 29, 2017). "BitChute is a BitTorrent-Powered YouTube Alternative". TorrentFreak.
- ↑ Sargon of Akkad on BitChute
- ↑ Styxhexenhammer666 on BitChute
- ↑ "Bitchute claims to be a decentralized platform—that's not true". DailyDot. November 27, 2019.