A dangerous network of pedophiles threatens little ones with inappropriate comments. Here is the harsh reaction of the video streaming platform
The problem of dangerous comments in Youtube videos has sparked a strong debate in recent days. In particular, it affects videos that depict or are dedicated to children and young people. These contents have been taken by storm by a network of pedophiles who, through provocations, threats and inappropriate words, have aroused great concern among users and parents.
The phenomenon has also triggered the ire of advertisers, who for this reason have immediately blocked advertising campaigns on the channel. As a result, the video streaming platform decided to block comments under videos for children and teens. The announcement was made on the official blog. Already since last week, tens of millions of videos on Youtube have been secured, and now it is impossible to add any opinion. The maneuver will gradually affect all content involving minors or dedicated to youngsters, including video game tutorials.
Youtube blocks comments
Disney, Nestle, Epic Games and other brands have decided to suspend ads on Youtube after the scandal involving children’s videos. To trigger the heated controversy has been the complaint of a youtuber who highlighted the existence of hundreds of inappropriate and dangerous comments towards young people. The ill-intentioned, exploiting the search engine of YouTube would have found dozens and dozens of videos to comment with violent and inappropriate terms. Many comments of pedophiles appeared also under the sponsored videos, causing the strong discontent of advertisers. Initially, Youtube blocked ads in videos with minors.
Youtube CEO Susan Wojcicki, in the aftermath of the scandal decided to take further action and arranged for the deletion of over 450 channels and disabled comments under millions of videos. The company explained that only a small portion of children’s videos will have permission to keep comments, but these will be subject to careful control. These authorized channels will be used to monitor the progress of dangerous contributions, and will allow the platform to recognize and prevent them before they escalate.
It’s not yet clear if Youtube will automatically disable the comments section on newly published videos, or if it will provide retroactive removal. It is likely that it will do both, while keeping a closer eye on the origin and content of the opinions expressed by users.