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YouTube’s FTC-Mandated Rules for Kids Content Infuriate Creators
Asm0deus
Member EpicPosts: 4,618
As a creator, will I really face a fine of over $42K if I don't comply?
Potentially, yes. Under COPPA, the FTC is entitled to seek around $42,000 for each mislabeled video. If your entire channel is comprised of content aimed at kids that's going to a huge monetary penalty.
On September 4 of this year, a settlement was reached in a lawsuit brought against YouTube by the state of New York and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which required the goliath video sharing platform to pony up $170 million for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA). The settlement not only resulted in the fine, but a slew of new rules that YouTube, and therefore YouTube kids content creators, must comply with. Now, in a brief video, YouTube has outlined the new rules, and they are infuriating YouTubers, especially those who produce videos aimed at children.
Determining if your content is made for kids
Regardless of your location, we require you to tell us whether or not your videos are made for kids. We are making these changes according to an agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and to help you comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and/or other applicable laws. Failure to set your content appropriately may result in consequences on YouTube or have legal consequences under COPPA and other laws.
We provide some guidance on what is considered “made for kids” below, but we cannot provide legal advice. If you are unsure whether your videos meet this standard, we suggest you seek legal counsel.
According to the FTC’s guidance on COPPA, a video is child directed (which we call “made for kids”) if:
- Children are the primary audience based on the factors described below.
- Children are not the primary audience, but the video is still directed to children based on the factors below.
When deciding whether or not your channel or video is made for kids, you should consider various factors, including:
- Subject matter of the video (e.g. educational content for preschoolers).
- Whether children are your intended or actual audience for the video.
- Whether the video includes child actors or models.
- Whether the video includes characters, celebrities, or toys that appeal to children, including animated characters or cartoon figures.
- Whether the language of the video is intended for children to understand.
- Whether the video includes activities that appeal to children, such as play-acting, simple songs or games, or early education.
- Whether the video includes songs, stories, or poems for children.
- Any other information you may have to help determine your video’s audience, like empirical evidence of the video’s audience.
Note: YouTube Analytics (YTA) is not designed to help determine if your content is child directed. You should use the factors outlined by the FTC above to set your audience.
How old is a kid? The age of a "kid" in the United States is defined as anyone under the age of 13. However, the age of a kid may be higher in other countries, so consider the factors described above as appropriate given how kid is defined in applicable laws in your country, and consult legal counsel if you have additional questions.
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
Comments
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
Whether the video includes characters, celebrities, or toys that appeal to children, including animated characters or cartoon figures.
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
A lot of the issue people seem to have is the flagging of your content. If you flag your content as not kid friendly, it should automatically be flagged for monetization, but the concern comes from the youtube algorythm automatically flagging content that has anything that could be considered kid friendly as kid friendly. You can manually request reviews to get it changed back, which is almost the norm already with most monetized content as people CONSTANTLY have to request reviews as youtube flags so much content as not advertiser friendly.
Also the creators wouldn't be fined, google would as it's their platform right? I'm sure that could result in a user getting banned or some penalty but I'm not sure.
This rule seems to really only affect channels aimed at children to avoid google having more fines. I can see more annoyance that might come with having to get manual reviews and having to go through your backlog of videos to flag each video as not kid friendly.
I just can't see this being as big of a deal as it's being portrayed as, because if they went through with this, and all these creators got falsely flagged and fined massive amounts, they would go away. Youtube only makes money from creators getting views, and if all of those creators go away they lose the viewership.
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
I'm still not understanding the issue totally. Bad ads for kids? Ads at all? The cookie situation? Can they not disable Cookies?
Screw convenience...
Gut Out!
What, me worry?
My 11yo son posted a few vids and then moved on with his ADHD self...should I mark his vids for kids just to make sure he doesn't get sued??
Gut Out!
What, me worry?
Today Youtube is just a place where you watch trailers and TV repeats.
All the interesting content has been censored or heavily regulated.
I am sure there is room for a new video platform out of reach of US regulators (or even worse the EU).
I can't imagine content creators giving up the potential large viewership to try a new platform. Vimeo tried, but doesn't look like much happened there. I can't honestly even think of another platform that has been successful enough to get more than a couple hundred views on videos. If you actually just want a platform that is 100% not subject to laws like this, then I'm sure there are options, but they are definitely going to be really heavy on specific types of content as the user bases are usually super small and super centered around some specific thing (like when people left reddit for voat and all of voat was essentially just those angry users talking amongst eachother).
The younger generation decides what’s cool and what isn’t.
And Youtube stopped being cool ages ago, Twitch is kind of taking over its legacy, until they too will put strict regulation in place that will alienate their main content providers which are Teenagers.
Most of Youtube content is made by young people and the most popular Youtubers are (were) Teenagers.
Sure most Youtubers are not teenagers anymore, but the lifeblood of this type of media are the younger generations which tend to ignore established over regulated media, preferring outlets with fewer or no rules.
Now i highly doubt that someone would go after even a channel like Jazza or Jacksepticeye if they mislabel stuff or do some Kingdom Hearts content... But until a few fines have been metered out we do not know what they will be targeting and it is harsh to ask someone to take that blow. And to be bloody fair getting rid of most of the creepy and abusive "kids content" is almost worth it. But just almost...
But this is ofc a blessing in not that much disguise for Youtube/google... Seeing that they have wanted to drive all but the most profitable channels away for years. Now they have a chance to kill of a bunch more.
This have been a good conversation
Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent.
"At one point technology meant making tech that could get to the moon, now it means making tech that could get you a taxi."
it takes a big payoff for the FTC to act,a sure win in the courts.
I can just point a finger at Wizard 101,a definite kid targeted game but has never been fined for gambling purchases and even media videos that are nothing more than advertisements to the cash shop.Their obvious denial would be that all purchases are made by adults,well doh,yeah a kid can't use a CC...obviously,the fact it that it is the INTENT to target the kids first,then the parent moves in with the CC.
As to this whole You Tube thing,there is likely a lot more to it,especially knowing how little the FTC actually performs it's DUTIES.
So there are two things here,You Tube is trying to cover it's ass by denouncing such material.The reason this simple lame approach works is because You Tube would just claim it has millions and millions of viewers and cannot police every single user all the time.On the other hand the FTC is looking for more big paydays and wants vague guidelines so that they alone control the outcome/results.
So i am sure that YouTube/Google are such a large entity they feel the heat coming from the governing bodies.My point is that i do not for one minute feel You Tube cares about ANY of it's content,this is all just legal mumbo jumbo.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.