“Above all, it is criminal to excite anger and contempt without proposing a remedy, or proposing a false remedy.” –Teddy Roosevelt
YouTube content creators right now fall into one of two categories. The first is comprised of those who warn of these coming days for years. Those that tried to explain to people how YouTube’s censorship, data collection, and behavior would ultimately result in some action either by the community or by the government that would impact everyone involved with the platform.
It was explained how shrinking your market by driving away content creators and putting people into limited states and blacklists ultimately hurt the platform both from an integrity and functional standpoint.
As COPPA enforcement approaches they’re now articulating how this was long in the making. How Google knew about the law for over two decades and how it is in fact an excuse by Google to further silence channels they don’t like. Rather than any interest to be in compliance with the law in question.
In the second group are the naysayers who didn’t want to get involved because as I said before they weren’t Jones, they weren’t conservative, and in many cases they never believed it would happen to them. To borrow RGE’s analogy, like the people in Venezuela until the cost of doing nothing outweighed the cost of doing something they were to one extent or another content in doing nothing about the problems. Now they’re in full panic mode.
There is little reason to have sympathy for this group. Not only did they have years upon years to do anything about the problem, but with their collective power this whole issue of YouTube’s censorship could have been squashed in its infancy. Right now they’re getting a taste of what so many other channels have had to deal with and only now do they consider it a legitimate problem.
It wasn’t a problem when it happened to ItsAGundam, Alex Jones, TL;DR, Raging Golden Eagle, or any number of a list of small to medium channels that is too long to list. Now that big daddy government is stepping in with belt in hand so he can do….well nothing to them.
Unlike other outlets and plenty channels content to bemoan their fate I’ve reached out to the FTC for clarification on How COPPA will impact content creators. Along with what legal rights and remedies do said content creators have at their disposal. The FTC was happy to clarify a few details and as many rightfully called it, the issue basically boils down to YouTube using it as an excuse to silence those they don’t like. (My words not the FTC’s)
Most importantly to this entire issue is there is no set in stone measurements for how COPPA will be enforced, understood, or defined. Right now content creators can reach out to the FTC and comment on the ongoing review of the law with their concerns and ideas on the page dedicated to taking comments.
Rather than complaining about hyperbole and “what ifs” content creators should with their collective audiences form a rational, well defined argument about their concerns and comment on the doctrine, it is highly suggested that content creators form a coalition that collectively reaches out to the FTC through other channels if they feel their interests and concerns are not being taken into consideration.
Next on the list of misunderstandings is the now infamous “fish in a barrel” statement Andrew Smith made back in September when responding to questions. Unsurprisingly this statement was taken completely out of context and when you put it back into context it has an entirely different meaning.
Now given that many of the channels now complaining about COPPA often criticize SJWs and others for doing exactly this, it is rather shameful to the YouTube sphere that this is even occurring.
To put context to the statement one has to understand earlier in the interview there is discussions of “children only” areas, the proper way to advertise to children, and the proper ways to gather information on children. The question is then asked what is to be done about people who produce children’s content , but are attempting to get their content put in the general audience section to which he replied with his comment.
The crux of its meaning is that all YouTubers exist on the same platform. If one gets fined it hurts the entire platforms viability and it hurts Google who then has an incentive to actually ensure content is properly marked.
Now while the guidelines published do indicate what content qualifies as “for children”, the fact that the doctrine is under review means that when Google is telling you your content until COPPA is for children they are lying as there is no definition of content for children while a law is under review to expand its implementation scope.
If you want further proof of this and just want to avoid this issue altogether as a content creator all you have to do is simply not collect data on children either yourself or through an ad agency. No that’s not an oversimplification, there is no deal with the devil clause I’m not mentioning, that is what COPPA applies to and it’s right there on the FTC’s Published guidelines.
“If a channel owner uploads content to a platform like YouTube, the channel might meet the definition of a “website or online service” covered by COPPA, depending on the nature of the content and the information collected. If the content is directed to children and if the channel owner, or someone on its behalf (for example, an ad network), collects personal information from viewers of that content (for example, through a persistent identifier that tracks a user to serve interest-based ads), the channel is covered by COPPA. Once COPPA applies, the operator must provide notice, obtain verifiable parental consent, and meet COPPA’s other requirements.”
Also no, Google illegally collecting data is not done on your behalf and if you have an ad agency collecting data have your lawyer ensure there is a liability clause in your contract, so you can just point the finger at the agency if they’re violating COPPA.
—A Quick Summation of the Situation—
1: The Law is under review there is nothing set in stone at the moment. Content creators and their audiences should be reaching out to the FTC at this link .
2: Mr. Smith’s comments were in regards to the platform suffering as a whole and Google’s incentive to ensure content is properly placed.
3: To be COPPA compliant just don’t collect data on children.
What is particularly frustrating about the entire situation is, as people have said, it is just a manner for Google to further clamp down on channels they don’t like. Channels are being throttled and content creators are seeing their revenue decrease because YouTube has begun marketing it falsely as for children.
Without even knowing the law only applies to those collecting data, many believe they could potentially see massive fines that will destroy their livelihood along with their lives. $42,000 is nothing to a major corporation like Google, but to regular people that would take upwards of a decade to pay off. Their fear is understandable in that regard, but it is born of ignorance fostered by Google to avoid mentioning the simple fact that their fine was not because content wasn’t properly marked, it was because they were and still are illegally collecting data from children.
The fact they’ve been allowed to get away with this for as long as they have is startling, but now the government is starting to crack down on it and this will not be the last time Google is hit with another massive fine. The company refuses to stop harvesting data in the manner it does so.
Flagging content as for children when it is in the general audience section of Google does not grant them immunity from the regulations over data collection. As a result Google will be hit with fine after fine. Especially as many in the GOP see it as their only means to hold the tech giant to task over their censorship and election meddling.
COPPA is just the tip of a much larger political iceberg. An iceberg that involves the powers silicon valley has given to themselves, tech companies selling the United States out to China, corporate liability law debate, and amongst so much more the growing radicalization of the far left who increasingly views and treats their ideology as a religion.
As distasteful as it is to have these politics creep into our hobbies and our entertainment we do have some responsibility for this happening. By allowing the issues and behaviors to continue to grow like a tumor on western society it was inevitable the battle ground would rest on culture.
-Solutions-
As to avoid the wrath of the Ghost of Theodore Roosevelt here are a few solution you as a content creator should be engaging in.
1: Contract Your Representatives and the FTC
We live in a representational Republic, it is time people start engaging in the democratic process instead of passively allowing it to happen to them.
Use the website: https://whoismyrepresentative.com/ to determine who your representatives are in both the Senate and House. From there you can go to their websites, look them up on social media, call their public contract number and discuss your concerns over the issue.
Before you reach out to them be sure to have your position well thought out, your concepts defined, and information you may need to make your argument available to make your case sound.
To naysayers who are probably rightfully jaded that the system is corrupt, understand that may be so, but said corrupt representatives when they are corrupt need to keep up the appearance of action and concern. Right now if you have a Democrat representative they’re going to be very interested in doing anything they can to appear as if they care after the disaster that is the impeachment. Republicans also know they need to not appear in Silicon Valley’s pocket and this can be leveraged by us as we are heading into an election year.
I’ll never say don’t be jaded, but join team “Bwa ha ha”, rather than becoming socially acceptable Emo, aka a Nihilist.
Again the FTC can be reached on the issue on this page and further communication can be established via the appropriate contract detailed on this page.
2: Leave Youtube
Naturally, not all at once, but anyone at this point should be able to read the writing on the wall and begin questioning why the water is rising inside the cabins. YouTube is attempting to allow the legacy media hold onto their power by strangling all their competition: IE You!
If you Stream on Youtube consider using Restream to become a multi-platform streamer. Keep an eye on rising platforms like DLive and Mixer. If being a multiplatform streamer is not your thing, then use Restream to begin a migration over to a second platform.
Simply stream on both platforms and explain to your audience what is going and your reason for it.
Content creators should begin migrating their audience to Bitchute or any other platform that is available.
Like it or not, eventually Youtube is going to explode or collapse under its own pressure. The platform operates at a loss that is only viable to Google because of the tax write-off’s they get from it. It is better to have a safety net than to not have anything at all.
There are two models to go about this. The first is timed exclusivity for Bitchute videos. As always keep your audience in mind when undertaking these actions. Simply put, your videos go up an hour earlier or a day earlier on Bitchute than they do YouTube.
Your second model is going to be exclusive videos on Bitchute. Most content creators that go this way have a least one exclusive video a week or alternatively have the uncensored version and thus superior version of the video on Bitchute.
What is beneficial about expanding to other platforms is it allows you to gather market reach you previously didn’t have access to. Unlike Youtube, Bitchute doesn’t pull algorithmic BS. If you remember the early days of YouTube where you could be discovered by a group of people and become big, that is how Bitchute still is. Plus notifications go out to those that ring the bell.
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As always look for other avenues and work together with others to survive the coming YouTube apocalypse. Content creators have the power so long as they work with their audience. To sit idly by at this point is to simply apathetically await extinction.
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