Mixed media & embed policy

சுதேசமித்திரன் may show a limited number of YouTube Shorts cards alongside our primary Story clusters. Articles and spectrum journalism remain the core product; Shorts are optional context or explainer clips chosen by editors.

What we do

• Embed via official YouTube player (youtube-nocookie.com) using oEmbed metadata.
• Link prominently to “Watch on YouTube” — we do not download or re-stream files.
• Cap Shorts density (~1 per 4 Story cards) so the feed stays news-first.
• Allow copyright complaints through our grievance form.

First-party video & images

Editor-uploaded clips and images may be stored on our Cloudflare R2 bucket and served only through /api/media/ (never hot-linked from arbitrary domains). These may link to a related Story via story_id.

What we do not do

• Scrape or host YouTube video binaries on our servers for third-party Shorts.
• Accept arbitrary user-uploaded video URLs in the public app (MVP).
• Autoplay with sound or use invisible tracking pixels inside embeds.

Technical & legal references

Full operator runbook: See docs/youtube-shorts-embed-policy.md in the project repository (operator copy). YouTube Terms and API Services Terms apply to embedded playback.

Report a Short

Use grievance type copyright with the YouTube URL. We aim to review valid notices within 36 hours and can hide the card without affecting unrelated Stories.