Well, first off, YouTube is a private corporation, not subject to free-speech laws.
Second, while I agree that YouTube shouldn't ban people for believing in conspiratorial nonsense, even if I do think it's harmful, it's not unreasonable that their algorithm should bias things that are fact-based, or at least not contributing to a toxic platform. It's hard to argue that any good came from Alex Jones posting the addresses of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting, and it doesn't create a fascist dystopia when YouTube doesn't want to promote something like that.
Also, I wouldn't be 100% sure that all the flat-earthers are trolling. There's an overwhelming amount of stupid people in the world, and while I will say that most of them are probably messing around, at least some are serious. At some level, I think it's far too easy for people to say "I'm just trolling" after the fact.
I make no argument against YouTube being basically a free-speech zone, and I wouldn't suggest banning people for purely ideological reasons, because I agree that that would be against the American Ideal.
That said, if I were hosting my own video-sharing website, there's no way in hell I would recommend a white-supremacist video, or even a flat-earth video. If people find it on their own, that's on them, but for the same reason that I personally wouldn't pass along flyers for thedailystormer, I wouldn't promote someone like Alex Jones.
For the same reason that the NY Times is not required to platform white supremacists, and the same reason that I don't have to host Nazi Propaganda on my website, it is part of YouTube's free speech to platform whomever they want.
Second, while I agree that YouTube shouldn't ban people for believing in conspiratorial nonsense, even if I do think it's harmful, it's not unreasonable that their algorithm should bias things that are fact-based, or at least not contributing to a toxic platform. It's hard to argue that any good came from Alex Jones posting the addresses of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting, and it doesn't create a fascist dystopia when YouTube doesn't want to promote something like that.
Also, I wouldn't be 100% sure that all the flat-earthers are trolling. There's an overwhelming amount of stupid people in the world, and while I will say that most of them are probably messing around, at least some are serious. At some level, I think it's far too easy for people to say "I'm just trolling" after the fact.