Facebook is “lying, cheating and stealing” to become the world’s prime video website, claims Hank Green, an American entrepreneur and leading YouTube video blogger with more than 2.5 million viewers.
YouTube much bigger
Green, who was among the three YouTube personalities selected to interview President Barack Obama earlier this year, said the social networking giant aims to become greater than YouTube and is ready to do anything to achieve this, such as providing misleading stats on the number of views and hosting pirated material.
Facebook recently declared that it streams 4 billion videos a day, but Green claims the number is highly inflated with an aim to prove it is bigger than YouTube. Further, YouTube videos have to play for at least 30 seconds to be considered as a “play,” compared to only three seconds for Facebook. Green also claimed that videos uploaded directly onto the social network are promoted much more aggressively than a YouTube video posted on the platform.
“Facebook says it’s now streaming more video than YouTube. To be able to make that claim, all they had to do was cheat, lie, and steal,” Green wrote on his Medium blog.
The blogger added that when Facebook talks about having a similar number of views as YouTube, it actually means the numbers are only one-fifth of YouTube views, “since they’re intentionally and blatantly over-counting to the detriment of everyone except them.”
Facebook lacks measure to limit piracy
Green also blamed Facebook for turning a blind eye to pirated videos being uploaded on the platform. Unlike YouTube, Facebook doesn’t have a content ID system to ensure video royalty payments are directed to the rights holders. Green said it is “inexcusable” that a firm with a market cap of $260 billion has no system in place to protect independent rights holders.
Responding to the claims, the social network said it takes intellectual property “very seriously,” adding that it has deleted accounts, updated reporting tools, and is “actively” finding new solutions. Facebook said it would come out with more methods to curb piracy in the coming months. A spokesperson said the company has in place various measures to address potential infringements such as its Audible Magic system.
Facebook sees videos as one of the prime growth areas. For the first quarter of this year, Facebook said it got 4 billion views a day, up from 3 billion three months earlier, with a majority of those coming from mobile devices.
