Only in the last week or two have I seen any of this, but it is one that leaves many in worry. Kind of a sequel blog to one I made last week. But if you are new to this, here it is. Google and YouTube were forced to pay a fine of 170 million dollars regarding data to children under the age of 13 back in September this year. They violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which was implemented in 1998. Sweeping changes are going to be made once 2020 starts. Now, users have to answer whether their stuff is made for kids or not. Tons of channels will be affected, regardless of activity or inactivity.
This is what gets frustrating. What is "made for kids?" Because that answer can be construed as anything. It's all about the subject, whether kids are involved or the intended audience, cartoon characters and figures, and a few other things. That doesn't please me, because it is vague, which is one of YouTube's biggest issues. They never explain anything in detail and if you have a question, it's usually some dipshit robot with an automated response. But what's damaging is if content is mislabeled. You could face a 42,000 plus dollar fine. That's not good at all.
The problem with some channels is that some of their stuff may have the look of something for kids, but not intended for them. Are my game videos of 90s games like Sonic the Hedgehog, Home Alone, Spyro the Dragon, Crash Bandicoot, Mario, Tiny Toon Adventures, Pac-Man World, and a few other kids games going to hurt me because they have the look of something kids might see? My audience ranges from teenagers to age 55, with mostly young adults and ones up to their mid 40s. The FTC is allowing responses about this, as they are looking to expand on COPPA. YouTube also suggests seeking a lawyer, which is impossible considering costs.
Another thing is that if you label something for kids, a lot of features get removed, making the video in question almost non-existent. That's to be expected, but you lose a good audience. There's YouTube Kids, which is an app that doesn't allow advertising, but I doubt many use it. Parents will have nothing but inappropriate stuff kids will watch if all the kids content is gone.
My advice is to archive your videos. Get them all, put them on a flash drive and potentially take them to another site if people start getting fined on YouTube. It's not worth having thousands turn into millions in fines. And for YouTube and others, explain stuff. Staying vague does not help your situation.
No comments:
Post a Comment