FreeSpeechTube
FreeSpeechTube (FST) is a free-speech, independent video hosting platform and archive founded in early 2019 by Norbert de Jonge, and temporarily suspended in February, 2023.
FST is particularly well known for supporting MAPs in their quest for a safer online space, without censorship, and was famously known as a hangout for Amos Yee and Nelson Maatman among others. Early on, restrictions had to be imposed against NSFW type content, which was posing an existential risk to the site, due to moderation demands, and the potential of upstream censorship. Over the years, viewership faded, and De Jonge left the project in 2022, owing to his personal situation. This left FST with no technical support, moderation and contingencies, other than their hosting arrangement.
In 2022, the project had some issues with Pakistani commercial spammers and an unsophisticated sock farm pushing rape apologetics. This operation was thought to be started by a group of American Mormons who were at the time seeking to misrepresent the MAP Movement.
Following a technical outage, FreeSpeechTube is likely to return under identical or similar branding, using a federated video sharing model. This will allow technical updates to continue for the foreseeable future.