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Vimeo removes documentary on the aftermath of trans operations

Taylor Reece's film, 'Dead Name', was available on the platform for a total of 34 days before being removed.

Captura de pantalla del tráiler del documental 'Dead Name'.

Captura de pantalla del tráiler del documental 'Dead Name' (Taylor Reece).

Published by
Rosana Rábago Sainz

The popular video hosting platform, Vimeo, recently removed a documentary that tells the story of three parents, identified only by their first names, who are fighting to protect their children from transgender treatment.

The online platform told The Daily Signal via email that the documentary Dead Name was deleted because it violates its policy prohibiting "discriminatory or hateful conduct":

We can confirm that Vimeo removed the video in question for violating our Terms of Service prohibiting discriminatory or hateful content. We strive to enforce these policies objectively and consistently across our platform. Vimeo has notified the account owner and all purchases have been refunded.

Possible pressure campaign by transgender activists towards Vimeo

Filmmaker and director Taylor Reece, confirmed that the documentary was removed from the platform. However, she does not believe that the reasons were appropriate. Reece told the U.S. newspaper:

The film is subtly explosive but I can tell you unequivocally there is no hate speech, there is nothing hateful. All these people talk about is how much they want to protect their children.

As Reece believes, the documentary may have been removed due to a lobbying campaign by several transgender activists who pressured the platform to delete the video. She assures that the documentary was available for more than a month before Vimeo removed it:

I'm very disappointed in Vimeo. The film was up for something like 34 days. They didn't suddenly sit down with popcorn and watch it one night. This is clearly yet another pressure campaign, and they just folded. I can assure you there was no hate speech in this film.

However, Vimeo said that removing Dead Name was not the result of a campaign against the platform, but came after a thorough review of the documentary created by Taylor Reece:

Vimeo’s global Trust & Safety team uses a number of tools and methods to moderate our platform of harmful, hateful, and misleading content in accordance with our Acceptable Use Policy. In addition to conducting regular account reviews and closely monitoring repeat infringers, our T&S team evaluates every video flagged by our users. In the event we determine that an account has uploaded content that violates our terms, we will take appropriate action including content removal and, potentially, account termination.

'Dead Name' is now a hit

However, the documentary is available on an alternative website www.deadnamedocumentary.com. The website, where the documentary was uploaded four hours after Vimeo removed it, is receiving a multitude of hits, as Taylor Reece reports: "In the last two days, we have made more money than we made in the previous three weeks."

Although it does not "take away the sting and the upset," it helped Dead Name, thanks to all the controversy it generated, to reach a much wider audience than expected. Reece says that the families in the documentary are grateful:

Parents are living in the Twilight Zone, they are beside themselves and don’t know what to do about it. This film is an attempt to force a conversation, not just in Republican legislatures, but around the country.
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