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BitChute

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BitChute
Type of site
Video hosting service
Available inEnglish
Created byRay Vahey
URLBitChute.com
RegistrationOptional
LaunchedJanuary 3, 2017; 8 years ago (2017-01-03)
Part of a series on
File sharing
Technologies
Video on demand sites
BitTorrent sites
Academic/scholarly
File sharing networks
P2P clients
Streaming programs
Anonymous file sharing
Development and societal aspects
By country or region
Comparisons

BitChute is a video hosting service that uses peer-to-peer WebTorrent technology[2] in order to diffuse, redistribute, and ease bandwidth and issues of centralized streaming.[citation needed]

History

The BitChute logo used from 2017 to 2018.

The company was founded by Ray Vahey. He described it as a way to avoid hard censorship and "demonetization" ("soft" corporate censorship) by established services like YouTube.[2][3]

Posted on January 3, 2017, "This is the first video on #BitChute" was the first sample video and test of the uploading process featuring a woman using a tablet.[4]

In September 2017, conservative youtuber Lauren Southern said she was considering switching to the site in response to YouTube's demonetization of political videos.[5] Southern has automatically mirrored her YouTube channel on BitChute since March 23, 2017.[6]

In November 2018, BitChute was banned from PayPal after BitChute criticized them for banning Alex Jones, The Proud Boys and anti-fascist groups from its payment service.[7]

In January 2019, BitChute announced in a post on Gab that they would move their domains over to Epik.com.[8]

Technology

BitChute is based on the peer-to-peer WebTorrent system; a JavaScript torrenting program that can run in a web browser.[9] Users watching a video also seed it. Despite similar functionally, WebTorrent is not compatible with BitTorrent[10] since WebTorrent only uses the same protocol as BitTorrent but uses a different transport. However, the WebTorrent Desktop stand alone version is able to bridge the WebRTC-based WebTorrent and TCP/UDP-based BitTorrent serverless networks.[11]

The BitChute website acts as a front end and portal for WebTorrent. When users upload a video it is converted to a WebTorrent and given a page on BitChute's website.[citation needed]

Reception

There has been conflict between YouTube and content creators over the content of some videos uploaded. The company responded in some cases by banning creators, blocking their videos or through channel "demonetization". As a response, some popular creators have started BitChute channels.[12] These include Dave Cullen (Computing Forever)[13] and various right-wing channels.[12][14]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Bitchute.com Traffic, Demographics and Competitors - Alexa". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b "BitChute is a BitTorrent-Powered YouTube Alternative". TorrentFreak. 2017-01-29. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
  3. ^ Beer, Doron. "iTWire - BitChute: the first serious YouTube competitor?". www.itwire.com. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
  4. ^ "This is the first video on #BitChute". BitChute. January 3, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  5. ^ "'There's no one for right-wingers to pick a fight with': The far right is struggling to sustain interest in its social media platforms". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
  6. ^ Southern, Lauren (August 14, 2018). "Lauren Southern". BitChute. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  7. ^ http://www.washingtontimes.com, The Washington Times. "BitChute, YouTube alternative, cries foul over apparent punt from PayPal". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2018-11-28. {{cite news}}: External link in |last= (help)
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Ernesto (2018-01-04). "WebTorrent Desktop Hits a Million Downloads". TorrentFreak.com. TorrentFreak. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
  10. ^ "bitchute-is-a-bittorrent-powered-youtube-alternative".
  11. ^ Heavybit (2017-07-06). "Demuxed - Ep. #5, WebTorrent: Bringing BitTorrent to the Web". YouTube. Heavybit. Retrieved 2018-11-03. @4:35+
  12. ^ a b "Right-Wing YouTubers Think It's Only A Matter Of Time Before They Get Kicked Off The Site".
  13. ^ "Internet Archive Search: Dave Cullen". The Wayback Machine. The Internet Archive. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  14. ^ "Internet Archive Search: bitchute". The Wayback Machine. The Internet Archive. Retrieved 28 September 2018.


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