It's a hard line to walk. I know that google is going to try and not be a censoring agency but so far the only reactions we have seen are these broad strokes that instead of getting rid of the people that make "bad" videos it hurts everyone. I suppose we're just have to see what happens but I'm not to keen on what might happen, but I will hope for the best.
It is censorship but it is also needed because it is clear that a lot of people (including a lot of the big channels) can't see past the money to make reasonable ethical and moral decisions.
I, for one, have been wanting Youtube to monitor videos (particularly popular ones) themselves for a long time and their inaction is, frankly, proof that Youtube's management is derelict in it's duty of care with regard to their product (a legal requirement in the UK, and probably the EU) and with serious legal repercussions once those legal systems get around to doing something about it - which might be what prompted Google to do something, it getting wind of potential investigations, it wouldn't surprise me if Japan considered one given the exploitation of the country by many channels (some high profile) and the illegal acts shown in videos in the country, I'd be disappointed if Logan Paul and his crew weren't arrested on trying to enter Japan again after his video which probably breaks a good number of Japanese laws (they have quite a few related to the publication of suicides).
Ok, look. Yes, YouTube needs to do a much better job of censoring what gets uploaded to it as a platform. Leaving monetization off the table, they are still a massive website which is freely accessible to everyone. In order to prevent the site from becoming a haven of exploits, abuse, sex, violence and who knows what else, YouTube needs to make a real effort to filter that stuff out. If they want to generate money from the site (and they do want to generate money from it) they have to hold themselves to an even higher standard of policing in order to maintain the free-to-upload system as well as having quality content to feature.
The question becomes, which they want more. If they want a family-friendly environment with quality content by serious producers, they need to take a hardline defense against controversial uploads, using tags, titles, or keywords and shut those accounts down fast. If they want the accessibility then they need to allow more of that stuff to exist and only take it down when it's becoming a problem. You can't have your cake and eat it too. The problems YouTube is dealing with mostly come from the fact that they are dragging their feet on the policing in order to not scare off people from uploading compelling content.
Let's face it though, it's too big and too visible to turn a blind eye to terrorist recruitment, child endangerment, or subjects like suicide. You can't NOT shut that stuff down. You HAVE to.
Join the conversation! Log in to post a comment.
