Planet of the Humans: Michael Moore and Jeff Gibbs criticise ‘blatant act of censorship’ after controversial documentary removed from YouTube

Film had amassed more than 8 million views before being taken down

Louis Chilton
Tuesday 26 May 2020 08:56 BST
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Planet of the Humans trailer

Michael Moore and Jeff Gibbs’s latest documentary film, Planet of the Humans, has been removed from YouTube, where it had been streaming for free.

It was taken down following a copyright claim over four seconds of footage contained in the film.

Prior to its removal, the video had accumulated more than 8 million views.

Produced by Moore and written, directed and produced by Gibbs, Planet of the Humans made the contentious argument that green energy sources, such as wind power and solar power, are ultimately unsustainable.

Gibbs provided a statement to Deadline after the film was taken down from YouTube.

“This attempt to take down our film and prevent the public from seeing it is a blatant act of censorship by political critics of Planet of the Humans,” he wrote. ”It is a misuse of copyright law to shutdown a film that has opened a serious conversation about how parts of the environmental movement have gotten into bed with Wall Street and so-called ‘green capitalists.’”

“There is absolutely no copyright violation in my film. This is just another attempt by the film’s opponents to subvert the right to free speech.”

“We are working with YouTube to resolve this issue,” Gibbs continued, “and have the film back up as soon as possible.”

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