Before you sign the petition, please click the link and leave a comment on the FTC website. The deadline is December 9th.
https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FTC-2019-0054-0001
There is something happening that could kill a ton of great YouTube channels. The FTC is wanting to clarify and reconsider the new Children’s Online Privacy Protection (COPPA Rule) regulations on YouTube creators. The big issue about all of this is ad revenue. Without ad revenue, many creators on YouTube would not exist. It takes money and funding to create those videos you like to watch on YouTube.
And if the FTC gets their way, many YouTube channels will see personalized ads being shut off for good. And this will be for channels that YouTube thinks are for kids. Videos from gaming, toy reviews, family vlogs, animal videos, and any content that YouTube thinks are for kids will see ads mostly disappear. But that’s not all.
Videos that YouTube thinks are for kids will no longer be searchable, have no comments, no notifications, not being recommended, and no special features like the end screens. What this means is the creators will pretty much shut down. Shutting off family creator content will cause more harm than good, especially for children. Quality family-friendly content will shrink, while more mature content will grow — yet kids will still be watching.
The FTC should not expand COPPA regulations for content creators. Broadening the definition of “child-directed” to include “child-attractive” would force many more creators to turn off personalized ads. As a result, even more quality content will dry up, and more mature and extreme content will fill the platform.
The free YouTube Kids app is a better solution than regulation targeting family-friendly creators. YouTube Kids removes privacy concerns around personalized ads. Parents buy devices and allow their children to watch YouTube Main. Many parents prefer to use YouTube Main because it has more features and less barriers. Creators should not be punished when parents choose not to use YouTube Kids. COPPA is about putting parents in control of protecting their children’s personal information online. The FTC should not use COPPA to remove parents from the process in regulating content and online advertising.
While large corporations will survive these changes, small business creators face terminating employees, changing their business model, or shutting down production altogether. These regulations will particularly hurt young underserved audiences who participate in YouTube communities on topics like special needs, faith, and minority groups. Limiting quality free content for kids expands the digital divide. Turning off personalized ads on kids’ content also encourages increased product placement and brand deals within kids’ content.
Creators face COPPA fines up to $42,530 per video, yet the regulation and definition of “child-directed” is vague. The FTC needs to provide creators with enforcement clarity.
YouTubers ask the FTC to:
1. Provide an enforcement statement for creators
2. Clarify the definition of “child-directed,” and not expand it to cover “child-attractive” content
3. Delay enforcement against creators until the FTC concludes its review of COPPA
4. Allow parents to use YouTube Kids or YouTube Main, without forcing creators to turn off personalized ads when parents choose to use YouTube Main
Please sign the petition by clicking here!
If you need to understand this whole issue, a video from the YouTube channel Chadtronic explains this perfectly.
Categories: Geeks and Nerds Stuff
