Outspoken metal musician Varg Vikernes has had his controversial YouTube channel shut down as part of some new guidelines introduced by the streaming site today.
If you’ve ever delved deep into the intriguing rabbit hole that is the Norwegian black metal scene, then you’ve likely heard of Varg Vikernes.
Founding his solo project Burzum in 1991, Vikernes soon became infamous for his alleged role in the burning of numerous churches in Norway, along with the fatal stabbing of Mayhem guitarist Euronymous which resulted in a 15-year prison sentence.
While Vikernes has denied such association, he has frequently been associated with views pertaining to neo-Nazism and nationalism, which he had published on a blog he began in prison, and later, on his YouTube channel, “Thulean Perspective“.
However, in accordance with new guidelines relating to the promotion of videos that discuss supremacy and the denial of well-documented events, Varg Vikernes’ channel has been axed.
“Today, we’re taking another step in our hate speech policy by specifically prohibiting videos alleging that a group is superior in order to justify discrimination, segregation or exclusion based on qualities like age, gender, race, caste, religion, sexual orientation or veteran status,” YouTube explained of their new guidelines.
“This would include, for example, videos that promote or glorify Nazi ideology, which is inherently discriminatory.
“Finally, we will remove content denying that well-documented violent events, like the Holocaust or the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, took place.”
A play starring Varg Vikernes in 3 acts. pic.twitter.com/yxujOfhdio
— 365 Days of Horror (@365DaysofHorror) June 5, 2019
While Varg Vikernes had previously been arrested in 2013 on suspicion of planning acts of terrorism, he was later charged and convicted by French officials for inciting racial hatred against Jews and Muslims, views which had been discussed at length on his now-defunct YouTube channel.
However, this hasn’t stopped the controversial musician, who already begun a new channel in order to continue posting content.
“Since my channel has been removed, I do not get access to the information, so I do not know why it was removed,” Vikernes wrote in his new channel (according to translated text from Dagbladet).
Explaining he had received warnings for “having broken YouTube’s rules in the past” and even referred to one of his videos as “hate speech”, Vikernes mused that his ban may have had something to do a recent upload which he explained was about “white nationalists” in Sweden.
“I expected this, but of course I hoped it wouldn’t happen,” Vikernes explained. “What that means is that I have to start a new [channel]. And that’s all, really. I will continue to upload stuff on YouTube.”
Any attempts to access his old YouTube channel are met with a message that claims it “has been terminated due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube’s policy prohibiting hate speech.”
While backlash from the far-right has been swift, this appears to be another step on the road to shutting down the social platforms of figures who deal with misinformation, or who spout views which can be considered harmful to humanity.
Check out an infamous interview with Varg Vikernes:
