Billy Jameson |
@BillyJamesonOM

Can you walk us through the exact moment you discovered your channel had been banned? What was your initial reaction, and has your perspective changed in the days since the ban?

I was moving house on that exact day and I saw a video posted to an X group chat, I believe by Steve Laws actually. It was the recent viral video of the veteran who said that fighting world war 2 wasn’t worth it. A few minutes later a quite tweet idea came into my head which was to post a screenshot of my audience demographics with the 65+ section circled. I took a break from carrying boxes of books up and down the stairs and stepped outside where there was 5G so I could load the page and bam, a pop up saying my channel as banned.

I felt strangely calm initially, I can’t really explain it to be honest. I knew it was real, it wasn’t as if I was in denial or anything, but I just didn’t really feel much at first except a little bit of confusion as to what I would do next. To be honest my fear of being banned went away a long time ago back in late 2023. My videos back then were not only edgier but I figured that since I’d been reported so many times they must surely know who I am and approve at this point, never mind the fact that all of my videos were manually monetized.

Regardless, the next couple of days were a bit rough. I suppose I had my Hitler post Beer Hall Putsch moment where I felt a little despairing and just wasn’t sure what I would do. After having a few days and formulating a plan though I feel much better, even strangely relieved although obviously I’ll miss YouTube dearly and hope to return one day.

Your channel had grown to over 270,000 subscribers in just two and a half years. Do you have any thoughts on the timing of the ban, especially given that your videos were manually reviewed and approved for monetization?

Initially the timing was bewildering to me. As I said, I’ve had the channel so long and posted so many taboo topics that it’s bizarre that now of all times I’d get the ban when I’m on less taboo topics and actually partially in the process of transitioning away from being so Nazi Germany focused. Rhodesia has been my great passion of the past year and has completely consumed my life as I write this Complete History of Rhodesia video (and book) and from there I had all sorts planned. Strange time to ban me for sure! 
Only a few days after the ban did I learn that the ADL had recently met with YouTube in the wake of the Fuentes and Tucker Carlson interview and it all began to make a lot more sense. I can only assume that’s why I’ve been banned given that I had zero strikes and every video was reviewed manually, yes, I stress, manually, by a human, for monetization. They’ve been unable to tell me what hate there speech was. Obviously politically motivated but still a strange decision.

Before the ban, did you receive any warnings, strikes, or communications from YouTube about potential policy violations? If so, what did they entail?

Absolutely nothing at all. I’ve had nothing but positive interactions with YouTube up until this point and I can’t talk about them positively enough. Every video was monetized, as I said, and any copyright issues I had were promptly resolved in my favour without any hassle at all. As I said in a recent tweet, I’ve been a YouTube fanatic since the year it launched. I love that website and it was always my dream to be a YouTuber, it’s the greatest website ever created and they were always fair to me up until now. I knew what buttons not to press and had enough common sense to not break any of their policies.

Many of your videos challenge mainstream narratives on events like the bombing of Dresden or National Socialist policies. What primary sources do you rely on most, and how do you verify their accuracy?

Up until very recently the Germans have had their history told for them rather than having the opportunity to tell it themselves. I always first and foremost look to those who were actually there. Can you imagine the Germans trying to tell the British war history using only German sources? Horror! In terms of accuracy I feel that you develop a bit of a sense for it the longer you cover the period. A lot of right wingers easily fall into the trap of essentially adopting ‘opposite propaganda’, and just stating the opposite of Allied propaganda claims like you’d see in Europa the Last Battle or The Greatest Story Never Told. As I always say in my much-loved disclaimer, please use common sense.

What’s an example of a historical event or narrative whose accepted version you believe is fundamentally wrong? Why?

A big one for me which I like to go for is the bombing campaign during the Second World War. The propaganda view in this case is actually the very opposite of reality, a rare case where that actually turns out to be the case. Churchill was quite literally begging the Germans to bomb Britain to the point of shouting at the air asking why the bombers won’t come and the records clearly show the repeated attacks on Germany first before Hitler authorized a response. There isn’t even really a way to argue around this one, it’s just so cut and dry so it’s perfect to get the point across that the version of World War 2 we’ve been fed is nonsense.

What role do ideology and politics play in shaping “official” history?

It depends on the era, but obviously my channel has been rather World War 2 focused and in that case the entire history is ideological and political. Britain destroyed her Empire and essentially destroyed herself in the process of fighting that war and ever since we’ve had to tie ourselves in knots to defend our actions. I think addressing that topic directly cuts right to the heart of the issue if we are to make any changes to the current suicidal course we are on. Some disagree with this, I know Keith Woods fairly recently wrote a big piece on the topic on his substack. I couldn’t disagree more. The entire worldview which we are meant to operate under springs from that exact conflict. It needs to be confronted. This does not mean that we need to make Hitler a saint or justify everything he did, but we need to confront the issue and drop the cope. Anti-White political types will never ever stop labelling Nationalists Hitler or National Socialists and so there is no use in allowing them to forever remain these irredeemable bogeymen. Hitler needs to be Napoleonised. People can feel strongly either way but there needs to be nuance so the Fuhrer’s very name isn’t the embodiment of evil otherwise we’ll never get anywhere. The Kaiser and Napoleon have both already had to overcome this to a lesser extent.

What advice would you give to readers trying to navigate conflicting historical accounts or “do their own research”?

If I were to offer a short piece of advice it would be to make sure you aren’t only reading the big names you’d see in Waterstones. Andrew Roberts with Churchill or Martin Gilbert with Hitler for example. The former, and there are many big names like him, are essentially professional Churchill glazers, they’re just apologists. The latter and his ilk are the opposite, Hitler slanderers, their jobs are simply to slander Hitler and interpret everything in the worst way possible. You need to be reading a wide range of people to develop your own common sense for the topic.

You grew up in Guernsey, a place occupied by Germany during WWII. Did local stories, memorials, or elderly residents’ accounts influence your interest in this period of history?

There isn’t really that much hatred on the island for the Germans. At school they try and make out those who constructed illegal radios as massive risk taking partisan types or whatever but it doesn’t really work. It was essentially life as normal during the occupation and there isn’t any real horror stories. It’s been called the model occupation for a reason. None of this really impacted my view on the Germans of that era though, I held a bloodthirsty hatred of them and viewed them as the embodiment of evil just like everyone else after a childhood diet of Saving Private Ryan and Schindlers List. The island is still littered with the remnants of the Atlantic Wall along the entire coast, so sure, walking my dog amongst the concrete every day led to an increased interest in the period I suppose, but isn’t every kid obsessed with World War 2 anyway?

You were doxxed a while back by left wing agitators. How has being "unmasked" affected you? Has anything changed?

Besides a lot of X banter over a ten year old screen grab of me staring into a camera in the wind not much has changed, I find all the comments funny. Well, I say that, I do get stopped at customs now, which is annoying, but it’s whatever, a minor inconvenience since I have nothing to hide.

Your channel evolved from gaming content to WWII-focused videos as Zoomer Historian. What inspired that change, and how did your audience react to the shift?

It wasn’t an immediate change, I stopped YouTube in 2018 and began again in 2023, I had a different career between then. There wasn’t really any audience crossover except a few replied expressing pleasant surprise. I assume those that didn’t like the new stuff just unsubbed and I don’t blame them, quite a change!

Do you foresee a future where you’re allowed back on Youtube?

I do actually yes. This latest ban wave is the ADL lashing out wildly as their world crumbles around them. The trend with censorship is in a positive direction, not a negative one. I think it’s realistic to expect that when there is less censorship pressure in future I’ll be allowed back. YouTube themselves obviously don’t care as they let me stay up for so long and, as I keep stating, manually monetised all of my content themselves.

With your YouTube channel gone, what’s your future plans for uploading content?

Life certainly won’t be as simple now, I can’t just hyper focus and make content and make an income from the views. I’ll be uploading as normal on Rumble but I’m obviously under no illusions regarding viewership figures there. The site also pays much less per view than YouTube. To keep doing what I love I’ll be much more donation/subscription dependent and I’ll be uploading regularly on substack and also streaming regularly. I think I’ll upload the videos a week earlier for subscribers and on substack, too. I’m also writing a book. Seeing the massive outpouring of support for me since my ban has made me certain that things will be fine going forwards.

You've garnered a loyal following despite the ban. What do you think draws young viewers to your take on history over more traditional sources?

Quite simply people just like that I tell it like it is and that I don’t make things too overcomplicated. I knew that going into it. When I started this I knew it would blow up and that there was a gap in the market for it, there wasn’t really anyone else doing it. If anyone had tried it earlier they probably would have been purged immediately. With the loosening of censorship, though, it gave me a chance and I took it and people liked it as I imagined they would. I’m glad people have stuck with me afterwards, obviously as I’m one of the only few people doing it now they feel a sense of loyalty to me, especially now that I’ve been e-martyred for it and I love them for that, it’s really nice.

For creators facing similar risks: What advice would you give on navigating platform censorship while staying true to your message? Can it be done?

It’s hard to say now. I thought we were past this but the scumbags at the ADL etc are flailing around and doing their best to take down our guys, but obviously they won’t be successful. Their main headache is Nick Fuentes, a man who has literally been cancelled already in every way possible. He’s uncancellable now. Attacking others who can be (temporarily or otherwise) cancelled or harmed by deplatforming is not a winning strategy. It does seem as if the current moment will be a little erratic though. Honestly I don’t know what someone would have to do to avoid the ban hammer now. Clearly talking honestly about Second World War history isn’t allowed. Other topics, though, I think you may just be alright with. Obviously that topic specifically is the big one for the ADL since that is their exact sympathy stick to beat everyone over the head with.

Just because there is censorship, too, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Look at the overwhelming support I’ve received since my ban. Make contingencies for a ban (unlike me) and you might actually propel yourself further as everyone loves a martyr. Make sure you have a platform on X and God bless Elon for remaining (mostly) firm on free speech. Make the most of it!