Director Robby Starbuck reports Amazon Prime Video banned his documentary The War On Children from its streaming service.
A screenshot from The War on Children (2024), Robby Starbuck
In a post to X, Starbuck posted, “Our documentary ‘The War On Childrens the most watched documentary of the year with more than 50 million views but Amazon just BANNED it from Prime Video due to “offensive content.”
“Is Jeff Bezos afraid of people hearing our very mainstream viewpoint shared by half the country or have radicals hijacked the company? Our film features doctors, US Senator Rand Paul, coverage of mainstream peer reviewed studies, victims of trafficking + exploitation and people like Riley Gaines and Libs of TikTok. It’s a cinematic representation of the way more than half the country sees the issues facing our kids today,” he continued.
A screenshot from The War on Children (2024), Robby Starbuck
“The ban is presumably due to us covering the dangers of sex changes for kids and the dangerous role our government has played in this social contagion,” he speculated. “Our film also covers every other big issue facing kids today, not just that one issue, however I suspect that it’s our critical look at the damage of transitioning kids that got us banned.”
Starbuck then called for his supporters to “Let Jeff know what you think about this decision.”
He concluded by letting his followers know that they can support the film by “renting it or getting a DVD at thewaronchildren.com — you can also subscribe to my X page where you can watch the entire film in my subscribers section. Your support helps us fund future films!”
Our documentary ‘The War On Children’ is the most watched documentary of the year with more than 50 million views but @amazon just BANNED it from @PrimeVideo due to “offensive content.”
Is @JeffBezos afraid of people hearing our very mainstream viewpoint shared by half the… pic.twitter.com/YgRIgDmyZ6
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) August 21, 2024
Alongside this commentary, Starbuck shared a screenshot indicating that Prime Video sent him a message that states, “We aren’t making your title available on Prime Video as it violates our Content Policy Guidelines.” It indicates the film violated its “Offensive Content” policy.
Screenshot of Prime Video banning The War On Children from Robby Starbuck on X
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This banning comes in the wake of prominent Lord of the Rings YouTubers indicating that Amazon was falsely copyright claiming their channels.
First, Jonathan Watson of The One Ring reported that his video reacting to The Rings of Power Season 2 San Diego Comic-Con trailer was copyright claimed by Amazon. Watson wrote on X, “Gotta start cracking down on those videos you don’t like, huh Amazon? This is 18 DAYS after it was first published…”
Gotta start cracking down on those videos you don’t like, huh Amazon? This is 18 DAYS after it was first published… pic.twitter.com/y8uBaqi3Vi
— Jonathan | ExploringTolkien.com (@torc) August 14, 2024
YouTuber Gary Buechler, who owns the Nerdrotic YouTube channel, also indicated Amazon was copyright claiming him. He posted to X, “Amazon Prime Video has started falsely copyright claiming transformative trailer reactions. How very Warner Brothers of you. This is something they didn’t do last time around with Rings of Power.”
Amazon @PrimeVideo has started falsely copyright claiming transformative trailer reactions. How very Warner Brothers of you.
This is something they didn’t do last time around with Rings of Power#TheRingsOfPower— Nerdrotic (@Nerdrotics) August 14, 2024
Amazon eventually reversed the copyright claim on Watson’s video with Amazon MGM Studios and Prime Video’s Senior Corporate Counsel of Global Content Protection Peter Kidd informing Watson via email, “We learned this morning we inadvertently claimed one of your video commentaries yesterday. In clearing the backlog of automated potential claims flagged by YouTube’s fingerprinting system, we failed to release the claim on your video as allowed commentary/criticism. While we can confirm your video was never taken down or suppressed, we apologize for the disruption.”
It added, “We’ll put you on the Allowlist to prevent automated claiming on your channel going forward. But should something like this happen again, please feel free to reach out to me.”
Email sent to Jonathan Watson provided to That Park Place
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Buechler shared that Amazon also released the claim on his video. He shared a message from YouTube that stated, “Good news! After reviewing your dispute, Amazon Content Services LLC has decided to release their copyright claim on your YouTube video.”
HAHA suck it Amazon!!#TheRingsOfPower pic.twitter.com/FzRrQwaVri
— Nerdrotic (@Nerdrotics) August 22, 2024
It will be interesting to see if Amazon reinstates The War On Children or continues to ban it from Prime Video.
What do you make of Amazon banning The War On Children from Prime Video?
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