YouTube COPPA: One Year Later

Last year, YouTube got in trouble with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. They violated rules and paid a hefty fine. Had something to do with data and collecting it based on what kids would search for. Since then, video uploaders have had to state whether their videos are directed towards kids or not. Over the last year, it has been concerning, but there was a lot of overreaction.

The problem with YouTube is that a lot of it isn't explained very well. Altogether, they are not out to fuck with people. They are not looking to punish everyone since they are aware of what they have. So does the Federal Trade Commission. Many are not exploiting kids to their content. If it is very blatant, then they will go after the violators. Knowing the site's history on how they do things, the overreaction comes from very mediocre help from them and the responses feeling very robotic with automated responses.

Figured this would be a very short blog. Not a lot going on right now that I want to discuss. No YouTube Videos blog since I wanted a recharge and take a week break from doing it. Definitely will try to get back on track next week with new videos. Seems like the site is doing a little better with handling things. If they want to keep being the go-to site, then they will keep abiding to rules and standards. That is if they can remember them.

YouTube Audience: Six Months Later

Back in the fall, YouTube was forced to pay 170 million dollars in fines in regards to monitoring their audience in terms of ads being shown. There was a push from them to have videos intended for kids or not. Plenty of negative backlash. But it might have been an overblown issue. Maybe because I haven't heard anything major.in terms of people getting in trouble.

I don't have much to say. I do think they understand what is for kids and what isn't. They know who to directly target when things go awry. But they could develop more detail into what is good or bad. I still have my concerns if it's a brand that is both made to entertain kids and adults. Something like Looney Tunes. But otherwise, all that worry for me was a big overreaction when I first heard of the changes back in November.

Simply put, follow the guidelines. It may not be cool, but better to surf and create within the rules.

YouTube COPPA Update And More

We're only a couple weeks away from changes that will happen with YouTube when the new year begins. I am by no means a lawyer, so here's what I've thought about in regards to this whole situation from watching videos and reading articles on this. 

I don't see the FTC targeting nearly everyone that does videos as some YouTubers have said. There has to be huge concrete evidence to show that content is directly for kids. But the FTC is not forcing YouTube to do a multitude of things in order to comply with the rules they broke back in September. The one thing they were told to do is have content creators say whether this stuff is for kids or not. But both sides still have to figure out what exactly is for kids because most don't know.

They are not going to fine people 42,000 dollars for each video, either. They are going to look and review them. I'll assume they will target obvious red flags. The FTC does know that adults will watch old cartoons and it will be a case by case basis. They know about video games to a point as mentioned in some videos. It does come off as a gray area type of scenario. I believe they will target Minecraft, modern Nintendo games, Fortnite, and a few other games that are hot along with specific aspects that might be construed as targeting kids. They are aware that just because there's bright colors, it doesn't mean you will automatically be in trouble. I don't think they will target small channels like me and many others, but who knows.

One dreadful aspect again is the algorithm. I've said it before, but it typically doesn't work for YouTube. This kind of mechanism can make a lot of false positives for stuff that doesn't fall into the made for kids area. I know some want a mixed audience button, but I'm not sure if its possible. Not because they refuse, but because how much of your audience is for adults and kids. I'm not sure if it could work. Also, making videos made for kids non-existent will make things worse and kids trying to find content will be troublesome. And not every content creator wants to make adult videos. By that, anything that could be for teens and up.

YouTube has also worked on updating their harassment policies. They are focusing on video creators who insult people based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and it doesn't matter whether the person is famous or not. I think they are looking for the extreme type of people, but it will trickle down to many "ranters" who think they have the freedom to say whatever they want in their video. I'm sure they'll target a lot of comments, whether it's from content creators or not. There's a difference between speaking your thoughts and getting into hate speech. I'm willing to bet most are in the latter. And that's why they are frustrated. YouTube has to police content. They're sterilizing it, but if they want people to keep coming, they have to abide by stuff and work on fixing things. Only now are they trying to make the site better in terms of avoiding hate controversy.

I don't have much else to talk about. I don't think most people will be in trouble with COPPA, but some clarifications could help. And the harassment type videos and content is kind of a necessary thing to look at and remove. Especially with the election in less than a year, we don't need nut jobs on both sides. Hopefully a healthier YouTube is the goal for 2020.

New YouTube 2020

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.

What's Kid Friendly, FTC?

That's the question I'd ask to the Federal Trade Commission. I've been doing YouTube for over eight years, almost seven with the current account I have. I'm all for wanting to make sure kids get protected via the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). But with Google and YouTube paying 170 million in damages because of personalized ads and a couple other things back in September, this is a pure overreaction and I'm not sure if people are going to risk using the site to make videos.

At the very least, you can voice your opinion to the FTC about it. But the explanations that are given out are either very vague or so broad that I can't make heads or tails of the whole thing. I don't use ads unless a company puts content ID on a video. But people will lose money. And the FTC and YouTube's machine to judge what could be for kids is a big danger. Potentially fines will go for over 42 thousand dollars, which is overkill and could hurt very small channels. Big channels are hurt, but aren't in danger... yet. I wonder about the thousands of dead channels because most won't know about the issues and they will have no idea that they could be fined six figures or more.

I do video game videos, but not stuff like Fortnite and Minecraft. Are games from Crash Bandicoot, Home Alone, Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Chex Quest, and various sports games going to be considered made for kids? Those examples are what I've uploaded since 2013. It's a hobby to me. But I've also done adult games like Medal of Honor, Doom, and GTA games. They could label old NES, Genesis, SNES, and PlayStation games as being made for kids. And what I dread also is that regardless of age, they are going to ignore adults and teens and say they are below 13 years old watching a Sonic Genesis game or an NFL video game.

People are not stupid. They know how bad this situation is. This is what happened with the SOPA bill back in 2012. When a government intervenes, the Internet takes action. What's happening now is a bit different, but that doesn't mean people are not going to be mad. Unless changes are made to alter the new propositions before the start 2020, you could be saying goodbye to a lot of channels and a lot of viewers because of the vagueness and broad terms.  One thing that is bothersome is parents aren't always keeping eye on what their kids do.

I feel many parents don't care what their kids watch. I feel like that's been the case for a very long time. YouTube has an app for kids. No ads, no bullshit. I don't know if any of this will affect me, but I'm not taking any chances. The FTC wants to expand on what COPPA does, and it could make many quit. This is what I think the FTC should do.

1. Explain what is kid friendly. Leaving it vague and broad will leave creators confused and worry about what they can make.

2. Understand that because it's colorful or has cartoon characters, it doesn't mean creators are always targeting kids. Just because people play the original Super Mario Bros. on NES doesn't mean kids are searching for it exclusively.

3. Drop the 42 thousand fine. Pure overkill. Go the suspension way with three strikes. One that lasts a week, two weeks, and the last one being a month. Making it a money thing will make things way worse.

4. Don't play babysitter. The FTC has no clue of what they are doing. Let parents do their jobs and police the use of content their kids watch. Intervening as it is right now will hurt a lot more than they realize.

That's my long winded thoughts. There's a petition on Change.org and you can express your thoughts to the FTC about this via regulations.gov.

https://www.change.org/p/the-federal-trade-commission-youtubers-and-viewers-unite-9045ee7f-f6f0-460e-b088-3429209dd7c6?recruiter=1015502725&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition

https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FTC-2019-0054-0001

Protecting kids is necessary, but this is not the way it should be done.