Youtube Controversy

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In September 2016, YouTube made what seemed like a policy change to the monetization on videos but it was actually a notification change of a policy that had been in effect for years. The changes revolve around an attempt by YouTube to make the platform more advertiser friendly. YouTube’s terms of service state what kinds of videos they won’t monetize. Most make sense, but the last one is causing a lot of controversy with content creators on the site.

• Sexually suggestive content, including partial nudity and sexual humor
• Violence, including display of serious injury and events related to violent extremism
• Inappropriate language, including harassment, profanity and vulgar language
• Promotion of drugs and regulated substances, …show more content…

The reason that last rule is causing distress is how broad and vague the rules are, and the enforcement of these rules has been just as vague with little to no communication from the website to clarify. It’s troubling since many YouTubers value commentary about current events and make videos to ensure the public is informed about stories from the news. It seems like YouTube is trying to censor content creators with their last clause “controversial or sensitive subjects.” Subjects that fall under those categories are the ones people want to make the most videos about to be sure the public is well-informed about what is happening, and removing monetization from them makes it so that content creators that talk about important issues lose money for doing …show more content…

Informing the public about current events is seen by some of them as a duty as well as a job. The results of this policy change are the problem, not the policy itself. By acting too quickly and demonetizing videos automatically, they are taking revenue away from the content creators which in turn makes it harder for them to continue making videos. The content creators may try to continue making videos but eventually, it’s not sustainable and their business fails. What seemed like a small issue, taking ads off of some videos, turns out to be a much bigger problem that if not corrected could close down many channels on