Censorship today is very different than how it has been traditionally used. In the past it was much easier to censor the news or ban certain forms of media, but that all changed with the invention of the internet. Of course it still exists in countries like China where pretty much all media is filtered, but for most people in the world, we're able to share and talk about almost anything we want.
But censorship never went away, it has evolved into something that is much harder to get around.
Today if you post a comment, an article, or a video, the algorithm might not reccommend or show you to other users. They can simply censor you by burying you under heaps of content. Another big example is youtube demonetizing creators for making videos that aren't "advertiser friendly". And then there are those intolerant of different opinions, that will block and ban others at will.
Some might argue that this isn't censorship, it's just companies setting the rules for their platforms. But when most of the internet is controlled by a handful of big tech companies, it's hard to argue that this isn't a form of it. Especially when some people make their income this way, and it's suddenly taken away from them!
What is LBRY?
LBRY is a censorship resistant library of digital content, but basically it's the blockchain alternative to sites like youtube.
LBRY works in a similar way to how the Piratebay or torrents work, as people download content onto their devices, another copy will exist in the network. So as long as one copy remains, it's almost impossible to take it down!
The platform is controlled by a company called LBRY Inc, but they try to keep things as transparent and free as possible by making everything open source. It is a truly decentralized peer to peer network, and through the LBRY application anyone in the world can access the LBRY network without relying on the company itself!
That of course makes people wonder, what if someone uploads something illegal, like footage of animal abuse or copyrighted content? Well the company still bans anything that is illegal under the laws of the United States, and will issue takedown notices to anyone that posts content like that. And that of course creates another problem, what if the US government decides to take down the company? In that case, due to the open source nature of LBRY, developers could completely rebuild the platform.
The platform also has it's own cryptocurrency, LBRY credits (LBC), which at the moment are proof of work (POW), but the company has suggested that this might transfer over to proof of stake (POS), just like Ethereum has for example.
The platform allows you to acquire LBC though mining and buying, but you can also earn them through their rewards system. LBRY gives you rewards for almost every action you do on the platform. For example: a daily watch reward, subscribing to people, and even just watching videos over time, will all reward you with LBC.
You can of course sell your LBC, but you can also use it to buy content on the platform or tip it to creators in the form of leaving a comment on their videos.
Content creators can set a price for their videos, but can also choose to keep it free, and hope to earn an income through tips. LBRY has a Youtube Partner Program, that allows Youtubers to automatically post to LBRY when they post something to Youtube.
What is the platform like?
The interface is modern and intuitive, and feels just like any other video streaming website.
My only concern with LBRY is that there isn't enough quality content yet, and that not enough creators have joined or transfered over to the platform from Youtube. There is a lot of good content, but it can sometimes be hard to find. Of course LBRY is still a realtively young project, with plenty of growth ahead.
In Conclusion
I personally really believe in LBRY's mission and I hope that they succeed in it! Almost nothing is as important in the protection of our freedom as free speech is, and it's something that we should try to support as much as we can! Especially today when most of the content online is controlled by AI and algorithms. I would like to encourage anyone that is interested, to go and check out the platform!
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this article!
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