YouTube & the Danger of COPPA

So YouTube just had to settle a huge deal with the Federal Trade Commission regarding COPPA and I'm afraid to say this will impact many users to the site. Their Terms of Service have been changed and the latest one set to take effect as of December 10th has many users like myself worried.

Watch this video to get acquainted with the background of what is happening regarding YouTube & COPPA.



Watch this video to see how YouTube is implementing it.



I have had a YouTube channel since 2012 and think this is absolutely ridiculous. The fact that YouTube was created in 2005 with the intention of giving everyone access to create their own content for people to see on the web completely contradicts this new system where they want only people with massive followers to publish content and make a profit for them. The fact that the new rules say that the material you publish has to be either meant for adults or children is so black and white. It completely puts content creators like some of us in a conundrum. Much of what we create (zoo, aquarium, and nature related content) can cater to anyone. There is no gray area here in regards to the new rules and many channel owners are greatly concerned about this.

I don’t make any profits from my videos and I like to create content for the sole reason of creating it and showcasing my videography work. I’m sure others here on Zoochat can agree. Many nature and zoo related channels provide an excellent window into places that they are either traveling to or want to get an idea of what to expect from a various video. For example, @Moebelle through his channel Zoo Tours provides viewers what certain exhibits are like to see in person or how a certain exhibit has changed over time. How will this affect the many zoo channels and other non-profits such as museums, cultural centers, etc... on YouTube? Will they still be allowed to exist? I've created playlists on different animal species since Arkive no longer exists. Will those disappear if I have to go back to my nearly 300 videos and switch the settings on them to the "made for kids" option? It doesn't get any better. From their new Terms of Service they can DELETE your channel!

"Terminations by YouTube for Service Changes
YouTube may terminate your access, or your Google account’s access to all or part of the Service if YouTube believes, in its sole discretion, that provision of the Service to you is no longer commercially viable."

What are your thoughts? Is there a better alternative to YouTube? I've been thinking about switching to an alternative site if I have to (which is what its looking like) and I don't want to run the risk of paying a $42k fine if somehow my videos are incorrectly classified. I really do believe this 1984 Orwellian approach is going to be the end of YouTube and many channels will be deleted as a result. I just hope that people are able to convince the FTC to reconsider their approach and things will change for the better and not the worse. Goodbye YouTube and hello TheirTube???

 

I'm very interested to hear @Moebelle's opinion, though I am willing to bet his channel wouldn't be very affected by this.

 

I'm concerned people of colour or LGBTQ+ will be disproportionately affected by this. What if some white nationalist parent thinks simply having black people being treated as people in a YouTube channel is somehow age inappropriate and complains about it?

 

I watched three and a half minutes of the first video and got bored (it is over 17 minutes long). @Sarus Crane it would be exceedingly helpful if you would type a short one paragraph summary of what this new policy is.

 

YouTube Creators Worried and Confused Over New Kid-Video COPPA Rules, Potential Fines

"YouTube starting this month is requiring all creators, regardless of location and whether or not they produce content intended for children, to designate whether their videos are made for kids. And many YouTubers are concerned that the new rules will hurt their monetization — or even expose them to fines if their content is mislabeled.
The change is the result of YouTube’s $170 million settlement with the FTC and the New York Attorney General for alleged violations of the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The law prohibits internet companies from collecting data from kids 13 and under — and YouTube was accused of violating that law."

 

There's no better alternative to YouTube, but I promise you, as soon as someone makes one people are gonna rush to it.

I've also been worried about how this is going to affect nature and science channels.

Funny enough, in this particular instance people are more concerned about the opposite: labeling their videos for adults but being told that their videos are for kids, and possibly being fined as a result. Under COPPA (which has been around for like, 20 years so YouTube definitely knew about this) it's against the law to collect data on users under 13, so you can't do targeted advertising. If you list your channel or videos as being for kids, your videos won't have targeted ads and your ad revenue will be greatly reduced. So most people don't WANT their videos listed as "for kids". For a long YouTube was able to play dumb about it, like, hey, you have to be 13 or up to make an account here, we have no way to tell if these users are kids lying about their age. But then they had to go out and brag to companies about how their site is super popular with kids 8 and up. With this new policy, YouTube is putting the onus (and the consequences) on the content creators to state whether it's for kids or adults.

YouTubers are worried because they're afraid that there won't be a distinction between content made for kids under 13, and content that's made for older viewers but might be interesting to or appropriate for children under 13. Videos about zoos, nature, or science are often pretty broad appeal, can be enjoyed by all ages. Do you list the video as for kids and limit your ad revenue? Or do you list it as being for adults, and run the risk of having your videos taken down or getting a fine because someone thinks that videos about animals are for children?

 

I admit I am not informed on this whole matter. But based on these descriptions it seems to me that it is not THAT big of a deal. I suppose for some the limiting of revenue could be a potential issue, but I wonder honestly how many users actually make money from their videos?

My problem with YouTube is that since anyone can upload anything there is a lot of pure garbage. For example if I search on a specific piece of camera equipment (to review a lens) I get all these "unboxing" videos which are nothing more than someone opening the box of their newly arrived lens and showing what's inside. I already know what's inside - it's a camera lens! Also just the pure rubbish of home videos showing nothing. Even so called professional podcasts are mostly garbage. It is almost impossible to find the good stuff through the rubbish.

My other problem is that the comments are not moderated and there is so much rudeness and profanity that I don't even bother to read the comments. (It seems odd they don't have a filter to at least put *** in place of letters on swear words).

 

I think people are worried because YouTube has a history of screwing over creators with badly implemented new policies. I don't think people should be so worried about legal ramifications (I figure that those huge fines are going to be reserved for creators who are very blatantly and without question targeting children under 13. If you're talking about nature but use at least a middle school vocabulary level you'll probably be fine, legally speaking) but they're right to be concerned about how YouTube is gonna enforce rules. YouTube is going to have an automated system that looks for certain words and content (including broad things like toys and animation) to determine if something is for kids, and the appeal process will likely be a huge pain in the butt.

Many people do make a living off of YouTube, though the YouTubers I follow seem to get most of their money from sponsorships and Patreon, with ad revenue only being a small portion of their earnings.