According to a report published in the Washington Post, YouTube goes easy on its top video creators when it comes to curbing problematic content – compared to those who bring in fewer videos and engagement rate.
The publication surveyed 11 current and present moderators of the video-streaming app and asked for their insights regarding the scrutiny of content posted on the medium. A majority of them claimed that popular YouTube channels do get ‘special treatment’ in their content analysis and allow them to get away with mild inclusion of content that violates their policies including bullying, demeaning speech, and other forms of graphic content.
The moderators reveal to the WP that previously YouTube has made exceptions for several popular creators including Logan Paul, Steven Crowder, and Pew Die Pie.
The primary revenue of YouTube is the money it makes from ads on high-traffic videos. This revenue is also shared with the makers. When a creator violates the rules of YouTube, they have their ads removed from the channels. Depending on the severity of the content, the complete video could also be eliminated from the channel while the creator may also be potentially banned from the platform.
However, the content moderators of YouTube are not allowed to delete the ‘violating’ content themselves. Instead, the content is reported to the ‘higher authorities’ who make a decision regarding the future of the video and the channel.
The moderators admitted to the Post that their recommendations of violating content are often overruled by the higher-ups of YouTube. This is specifically seen when videos involved popular video creators that attract more ad revenue.
In their response, YouTube denied the allegations and said that it works on two sets of standards for conduct. They do have stricter rules for creators who benefit from advertisements on their videos while general community guidelines are somewhat flexible.
During the past few years, YouTube has come under a lot of scrutinies for allowing problematic content on its platform. The company has tried several methods to tackle the issue with efforts like manual reviews of videos, banning videos that seem inappropriate and modifying its algorithms to automatically detect such videos. In fact, the company claims to remove 58 million ‘violating’ videos in the third quarter of 2018 alone.
Unfortunately, all their efforts are (almost) in vain.
In fact, Google’s own employees petitioned to ban the video-streaming app from SF Pride held earlier this year due to their opinion that the company was not doing enough to safeguard the LGBTQ community from abusive content.
Europe-based YouTubers also called to make the rules regarding monetization of videos more transparent.
A spokesperson from YouTube claimed that the company has been working on several protocols to detect bad content from their platform. He also said that YouTube continuously reviews its policies and ensure a no-bias policy
Despite the statements made by YouTube, there is no denying the controversies that frequently surround the high-profile creators and their videos – making the users question the company’s policies. Seems like it’s high time for YouTube to take responsibility and be fully transparent about their operations.
What do you think? Is YouTube being easy on the high-profile creators? Let us know in the comments below!
Photo: NurPhoto / via Getty Images
Read next: 3 Most Trending Shopping-related ideas on YouTube
The publication surveyed 11 current and present moderators of the video-streaming app and asked for their insights regarding the scrutiny of content posted on the medium. A majority of them claimed that popular YouTube channels do get ‘special treatment’ in their content analysis and allow them to get away with mild inclusion of content that violates their policies including bullying, demeaning speech, and other forms of graphic content.
The moderators reveal to the WP that previously YouTube has made exceptions for several popular creators including Logan Paul, Steven Crowder, and Pew Die Pie.
The primary revenue of YouTube is the money it makes from ads on high-traffic videos. This revenue is also shared with the makers. When a creator violates the rules of YouTube, they have their ads removed from the channels. Depending on the severity of the content, the complete video could also be eliminated from the channel while the creator may also be potentially banned from the platform.
However, the content moderators of YouTube are not allowed to delete the ‘violating’ content themselves. Instead, the content is reported to the ‘higher authorities’ who make a decision regarding the future of the video and the channel.
The moderators admitted to the Post that their recommendations of violating content are often overruled by the higher-ups of YouTube. This is specifically seen when videos involved popular video creators that attract more ad revenue.
In their response, YouTube denied the allegations and said that it works on two sets of standards for conduct. They do have stricter rules for creators who benefit from advertisements on their videos while general community guidelines are somewhat flexible.
During the past few years, YouTube has come under a lot of scrutinies for allowing problematic content on its platform. The company has tried several methods to tackle the issue with efforts like manual reviews of videos, banning videos that seem inappropriate and modifying its algorithms to automatically detect such videos. In fact, the company claims to remove 58 million ‘violating’ videos in the third quarter of 2018 alone.
Unfortunately, all their efforts are (almost) in vain.
In fact, Google’s own employees petitioned to ban the video-streaming app from SF Pride held earlier this year due to their opinion that the company was not doing enough to safeguard the LGBTQ community from abusive content.
Europe-based YouTubers also called to make the rules regarding monetization of videos more transparent.
A spokesperson from YouTube claimed that the company has been working on several protocols to detect bad content from their platform. He also said that YouTube continuously reviews its policies and ensure a no-bias policy
Despite the statements made by YouTube, there is no denying the controversies that frequently surround the high-profile creators and their videos – making the users question the company’s policies. Seems like it’s high time for YouTube to take responsibility and be fully transparent about their operations.
What do you think? Is YouTube being easy on the high-profile creators? Let us know in the comments below!
Photo: NurPhoto / via Getty Images
Read next: 3 Most Trending Shopping-related ideas on YouTube
