Well, first, judging by the amount of likes\dislikes, it may have made sense for some of the people who read it. So maybe you should ask yourself whether you not understanding something is closer to being your problem or my problem.

It seems clear they don’t want us using their site with videos.

Google makes it unpleasant using YT for a part of its users. It's clear they don't want that part (us).

I think publishing video files on the Web is not some unique know-how.

Serving files over HTTP is not something only Google can do.

By the way, neither is search, neither are ratings.

I think you understood this sentence.

And “being in the same space” with the rest of the world is an illusion due to the way recommendations work there. I mean, it’s sufficient to look at the views counter under a video and combine it with some other numbers to realize this.

This is in response to some unsaid thing like "but everyone uses YT" with the implication that on big platforms people are all in the same space. In fact you'll never "meet" some people there simply because of how recommendations work.

Freedom is so close. It’s not in defeating the network effect, it’s in realizing that it’s fucking useless in anything but scaring us away from leaving trap spaces.

I think this is easier to understand now.