In this briefing, we highlight the YouTube video “Spastic ballet” that has been online since August 20, 2009. It has been viewed more than 238,000 times and has received over a 1000 thumbs up (as against 290 thumbs down).

The video has two men, who suffer from Cerebral Palsy, doing ballet. While it is unclear whether they actually suffer from Cerebral Palsy or are just pretending, the context in which the video is presented is clearly offensive to anyone with the condition.

The word “Spastic” is a medical term to describe Cerebral Palsy. However, in common usage, it has become a word of insult to describe stupidity or physical ineptness. The word has such negative associations that the UK charity The Spastic Society changed its name to Scope in 1994. The fact that the video is using the word to describe the men, itself is an offence.

Moreover, the YouTube user who has posted the video is not moderating the comments. So the comment space has become a platform for people to insult and belittle people with Cerebral Palsy.

Here is the video for your viewing.

Here is an image reference, in case the video has been removed by YouTube.

Below we share three comments from the page.

 

 

 

Please report this video and the comments to YouTube. For detailed instructions on how to report a YouTube video and/or comment, go here.

Also report this video to OHPI’s independent online hate reporting system FightAgainstHate.com under the category of Hate targeting People with Disabilities. It will help us monitor how many times the video was reported by users before the company removed it.

You can sign into FightAgainstHate.com directly using your Facebook login. Alternatively, you can register using an email account. Instructions on how to register are here, and how to report items to the system are here.

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