UK political party Free speech index (Youtube proxy). My rankings.

For those that just want the league table here it is:

Rank	Party Name	Score
=1 (most tolerant)	Green	9
=1	Liberal Democrats	9
=1	UKIP	9
2	SNP	8
3	Labor	5
4	BNP	1
5	Conservative	0

Or as a nice pretty graphic.

Credit goes to thunderf00t for giving me this idea. Thunderf00t made the point in a 2012 (US) election video that essentially the management of a Youtube channel gives a crude proxy into the attitudes of the political parties  attitudes  towards free speech. In the UK I think this is even more relevant, since political parties play a bigger role than they do in the states (conversely the president is more important than our prime minister). Thus, I am going to rank the UK political parties by how they choose to manage there channels; after-all why should a party whose policy it is to ban comments be anymore tolerant to free speech where it actually matters?

For each YouTube channel I will select 3 videos; the 'trailer/default' video, the most popular video, and the most recent video. I will select them in this respective order, and if it happens that the most popular video is also the trailer then I will select the 2nd most popular video (similar logic is also used in the case of the most recent video). Each video will be allocated points on the following basis.

Comments are enabled. +1
Ratings are enabled. +1
There is at least one negative comment posted: +1 (this is a crude test for post-hoc comment moderation)

Also in the event that comments are enabled I will perform a test with a 2nd account to see if despite comments being enabled, they are selectively being moderated (the comment I will leave will be neutral and non-inflammatory but not supportive in nature*). If the test is passed then there is no penalty. However if the test is failed then a penalty is applied:


If the moderation is not excessive: -1
If there are relatively few and only positive comments (typically with very large ratings): -2

A further one point penalty will be applied to the final score if anything else about the channel is disabled (for example #subscribers or stats on any video). This is far less serious than disabling comments or ratings and is arguably more about transparency (however I have noticed it is a fairly good proxy for censorship on Youtube channels in general). Thus a maximum of 1 point only may be deducted in this way.

Therefore the maximum score a party can achieve is 9, if everything is enabled and there is no evidence of selection. The lowest score a party can achieve is -4, if ratings are disabled and comments are manipulated to portray everything in a positive light.

*It doesn't really matter what the comment is, since this only tests for automatic comment restriction. However I made sure my comments were constructed such that they wouldn't get caught in YouTube's spam filter.

Finally this analysis is limited only to primary YT channels, i.e the most popular and most viewed and the ones I expect most reflect party policy. Obviously this is not perfect, but it is really the best of a bad situation as a party might have a large number of minor secondary channels.

Format: Name of party (name of YT channel)


The Conservative Party (webcameronuk)
Trailer: 0/3
Most popular video: 0/3
Most recent video: 0/3

Free speech index: 0/9

The Labor party (theuklabourparty)
Trailer: 3/3
Most popular video: 0/3 (test failed and evidence of excessive moderation)
Most recent video: 2/3

Free speech index: 5/9

The liberal democrats (LibDem)
Trailer: 3/3
Most popular video: 3/3
Most recent video: 3/3

Free speech index: 9/9

The Green party (greenpartyew)
Trailer: 3/3
Most popular video: 3/3
Most recent video: 3/3 (no negative comments but the benefit of the doubt has been given due to the small number of views)

Free speech index: 9/9

The UKIP party (ukipofficial)

Trailer: 3/3 (only 1 negative comment and it was borderline, benefit of the doubt given due to small number of views.)

Most popular video: 3/3

Most recent video: 3/3

Free speech index: 9/9

The SNP party (TheSnp)

Trailer: 3/3

Most popular video: 3/3

Most recent video: 3/3

Free speech index: 8/9 (the subscriber number is hidden).

Finally the BNP who are little more than a joke party these days. However they are the far-right extreme nationalist party of the UK so it will be interesting.

The BNP party (bnptv)
Trailer: 1/3
Most popular video: -1/3 (test failed and heavy moderation very evident. There is one *borderline* negative comment, however given that it also contains strong praise for the video and in light of the test being failed I cannot count it).
Most recent video: 1/3 (test failed and heavy moderation once again obvious. There is one negative comment that merits a point as it is not borderline this time. However 1/3 is a very generous score considering).

Free speech index: 1/9

Hurricane Size Comparison

Best Free movie editor software (work in progress - expect updates to this post)

While open source and free film edit software is never going to be able to compete professionally, here are some of the best alternatives and some pros and cons of the software. Each product is scored in terms of the features available, the stability of the program and how easy it is to start editing. 

Windows live movie maker

This auto-installed piece of software is surprisingly good at doing basic tasks. In particular the clip splitting feature is very easy to use and allows precise cutting. Another really cool feature is the ability to change the playback speed of individual clips including the audio. Export options are varied and include the ability to upload directly to Youtube. The main downside is the surprising absence of the timeline (which was actually available in previous versions) and of more advanced features in general.

Features: 1/5
Stability: 5/5
Learning curve: 5/5 

CamStudio recorder (old version 2.6) (for screen recording)

While not video editing software per say, camstudio is amazing at what it does - record your screen view. It also has webcam and annotation functionality, but the main desirable here is that there is no watermark or limitations associated with this product which is fairly unique for this kind of software. There are several disadvantages unfortunately; firstly it has a file-size limit which it does not warn you about (so entire recordings can actually be lost if they go on for too long at too high quality), secondly rounding errors from the frame-rate capture and playback rate can cause the audio and video to desyncronise (however with careful selection of the frame rate this problem can be avoided entirely), and finally the product is not at all stable - in particular focus on a secondary program it uses for recording can cause the software to crash, however with care this problem can be avoided. Unfortunately there is a SERIOUS MALWARE concern associated with the modern version of this product which means I cannot recommend it at all. If you can get your hands on an old pre 2012 version of this product it is fantastic (as I have), however do NOT download the up to date version, it is not worth the risk.  

Features: 2/5 but excellent as a screen recorder. 
Stability: 0/5 including MALWARE/VIRUS concerns on NEW versions (very old versions are fine) 
Learning curve: 5/5

If you chose to download this product (particularly a new version) you do so AT YOUR OWN RISK. Again, if you can find an older version this product is well worth the time, however it is not worth the risk for a newer version.

VSDC free movie editor

Essentially a far more advanced version of movie maker, this product boasts an impressive range of features including allowing multiple media (including videos) to be placed on the same canvas and an array of impressive effects including rotation and movement of objects on the canvas. The editor has timeline functionality which is a plus, however while its cutting and splicing feature is slightly more advanced than movie-maker I do not prefer it as it can be very counter-intuitive. The timeline also does not allow media to snap into place, so unfavorable gaps have to be edited manually which can be a pain. The editor does also have useful audio effects, however will not allow audio to be decoupled from a video (although it does allow audio to be inserted) as movie maker will. While the effects make this program very attractive, it has fairly low stability and saving regularly is a must as unsaved files will be lost in the event the program crashes (which it will from time to time).

Features: 3/5
Stability: 2/5
Learning curve: 4/5

Lightworks

Comes across as being quite a serious attempt to rival proffesional video making software, and in terms of appearance is quite good at conveying that (although the inability to minimize the window is pretentious and annoying). The range of effects (including keying and 3D) is quite impressive though will seriously underwhelm a serious producer, and keyframe functionality in particular makes this an attractive free alternative. For simple tasks such as cutting clips the software comes across as a bit cumbersome though and unnecessarily complicated.

Features: 3/5 (but is keyframe based unlike VSDC) 
Stability: 4/5 
Learning curve: 3/5

Hit film express 3/ Hit film Pro (demo)

The effects library in the demo version is 2nd to none, and with a simple learning curve it almost seems too good to be true. Unfortunately it is too good to be true, with the demo version (despite being unlimited) only allowing 30 second 480p exports, and only then to Youtube! The express version while having no restrictions in exporting has a massively stripped down effects library which may be slightly inferior to light works. Still, if you want to impress in short-bursts this product is not going to be matched by any other, and hit film 3 express is a very strong movie editor in its own right although will seem disappointing in comparison. My only real qualm with the product itself (as opposed to its restrictions) is that effects cannot be applied directly to a clip in a timeline (with intuitive layers) but have to be applied to a new composite, actually its fairly similar to VSDC in this regard but far less intuitive especially as key-framing works for a select few things on the timeline (but in reality you have to edit in composite mode). 

Features: 3/5 (would be 5/5 without restrictions)
Stability: 5/5
Learning curve: 4/5

Blender

Turns out I was not being 100% honest when I said the above was 2nd to none, and blender is just as capable as Hit film in terms of effects, and is superior in terms of 3D effects. AND there are no restrictions. So what's the catch? A downright daunting learning curve, that will force you to spend hours in tutorials before you can do something remotely presentable. However should you master this product, the free particle engine, texturing abilities, and even the ability to code directly in python makes this product every bit as good as its commercial rivals (and probably better). The trouble is, trying to set this up as a video editor will require alot of work, and 2D effects, while possible are arguably harder to perform (especially for the beginner) than 3D effects. 

Features: 5/5 

Stability: 5/5 

Learning curve: 0/5

XSplit Broadcaster (for livestreaming)

More accurately a live-stream editor rather than a video editor. For simple live streaming tasks it is great at what it does and is relatively simple to setup streams directly to Youtube Live. The express version is relatively stripped down in terms of features but does support keying, 3 scenes, and a wide range of media that would satisfy most. Stability is usually good although to ensure a stable live stream sometimes fine tuning has to be done which is not obvious.

Features: 3/5 

Stability: 4/5 

Learning curve: 4/5