Why OdyseeWatchdog Exists

Odysee launched in September 2020 as a blockchain-based "free speech" alternative to YouTube, built on the LBRY protocol founded in 2015 by CEO Jeremy Kauffman. The platform quickly became a refuge for content creators deplatformed from mainstream services — many of them for promoting terrorism, neo-Nazi ideology, and targeted harassment. GNET researcher Eviane Leidig formally named it "The New YouTube for the Far-Right" in a 2021 research paper.

Odysee's own Community Guidelines explicitly prohibit this content. But in May 2021, The Guardian obtained a leaked email from LBRY VP Julian Chandra that stated "just being a white nationalist or nazi isn't grounds for removal" — accidentally sent to the very user who had complained about neo-Nazi content. This revealed the true moderation philosophy: the rules exist on paper but are deliberately unenforced.

The SPLC's Data Lab analyzed 165 extremist channels hosting 50,459 videos over 28 months, finding $336,000 in direct payments to hate groups through Odysee's Hyperchat tipping system. The platform earns a 5% fee on every transaction — meaning Odysee directly profited approximately $16,800 from extremist content alone.

The blockchain component makes this especially dangerous. Content published to LBRY is distributed across decentralized nodes globally. Even if Odysee removes a video from their website, the data persists on-chain. CEO Kauffman himself promoted LBRY as "the most censorship-resistant system to ever exist for the purposes of publishing digital content."

When Odysee does act on reported content, it does not remove it. Instead, content is "delisted" — hidden from Odysee's search and browse features but still fully accessible via direct URL and on the LBRY blockchain through alternative clients. ISD Germany's "In the Blind Spot" report documented how extremist groups exploit this by sharing direct links through Telegram and encrypted channels — completely bypassing the "delisting" that Odysee presents as moderation.

This means every "action" Odysee takes on extremist content is theater. The content remains available, the creator keeps earning, and the extremist networks that distribute it are completely unaffected. It is moderation in name only.

These are not anonymous accounts. They are identified extremists, many with criminal records, profiting openly on Odysee while the platform collects its 5% cut:

Read about the leadership enabling this — Jeremy Kauffman, Julian Chandra, Sam Williams →

Beyond the documented extremist ecosystem, Odysee is actively used for targeted harassment campaigns against individuals. The platform's blockchain permanence makes this uniquely harmful — victims cannot get content removed even after successful reports:

• Doxxing videos that remain live months after being reported — blockchain copies persist even after frontend removal
• Coordinated harassment campaigns organized through Odysee channels with monetized livestreams
• Death threats delivered via video content that Odysee refuses to remove despite explicit Community Guidelines violations
• Stalking and surveillance content targeting specific individuals, monetized through LBC tips
• Swatting coordination shared openly on the platform

When victims report this content through Odysee's official channels, they frequently receive no response — the same pattern documented by the SPLC, The Guardian, Miami New Times, and every other organization that has investigated the platform. As the leaked Julian Chandra email revealed, non-enforcement is not a bug — it is the policy.

Odysee does not operate in isolation. Research from ISD Global, ASPI, and the Atlantic Council has documented how it functions as a key node in a multi-platform extremist ecosystem:

ISD's 2025 antisemitism study found that fringe platforms like Odysee host 91% of violent extremist antisemitic content — compared to just 9% on mainstream platforms like X and YouTube. ASPI mapped 22 different monetization platforms used by extremist Telegram channels, with Odysee identified as a key destination. This is not a single platform problem — it is an ecosystem, and Odysee is the node where ideology meets money.

OdyseeWatchdog is a transparency and accountability project. We operate within the following principles:

OdyseeWatchdog is operated by Bryan Flowers, with data and code published openly at github.com/bryanflowers/odyseeexp. The scanner methodology, blocklist, and full datasets are public — see the methodology page.

Disclosure: the founding investigator is the same person named as the victim in the 84 Videos, Zero Action article. The personal-stake context is what motivated the project; the data, methodology, and source code are all independently verifiable, and every claim on the site is traceable to either a public Odysee URL or a published third-party investigation.

Press & press kit: press@odyseewatchdog.com — see the press kit for stats, quotes, and interview availability.

Submit evidence or a correction: /submit — anonymous submissions accepted; if you provide an email we will only use it to follow up on your specific submission.

Privacy questions: privacy@odyseewatchdog.com.