So to explain what's going on right now, Google / YouTube's been breaking the law for years as they've been mining data from minors who are watching their platform YouTube Kids. They've been using that to create targeted ads for kids as this is very illegal and have been using their algorithm to give priority to other people who were making disgusting content. You know the really gross predatory copyright breaking content aimed at kids, it's all super gross stuff. The problem is that they've been encouraging that by allowing it and the algorithm has been picking them out and monetizing it like crazy so the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) were forced to step in and change something because Google / YouTube just wasn't willing to do it themselves and prepare for the future.
Google / YouTube thought they could break the law and make as much money as long as they could and when things got bad they passed the buck to the content creators cause whenever Google / YouTube messes up it's the content creators that end up having to pay the price for it. They did get fined by the FTC ($170 million) but only a teeny tiny fraction compared to what they make. So the FTC is stepping in and saying, "If you make content that is for kids then you need to mark it as for kids" using YouTube's own little system. It's a little option on your YouTube channel or individual videos can be marked as "for kids". Ideally this would just mean that your video could only be viewable in the YouTube Kids app. That would solve a lot of problems, not sure why it didn't happen that way before though.
Don't know why Google / YouTube isn't doing that in response to this because it would solve a lot of problems, but no instead what happens is that If you mark your video or your channel as "for kids" it means that it will no longer have targeted ads which drastically lowers ad revenue something like 10%. Also you won't get as many views so it's going to be less than 10% because no one can search your video, it will not come up in recommended, people will not get notifications for it. It will basically be invisible so unless someone subscribes to your channel it will be in their feed If they go to it specifically, and it will be on your channel If they go to your channel directly. But it won't be anywhere else, not on YouTube, no discoverability, it's essentially a death sentence for video.
It's not going to make you any money and it's not going to be viewed by anybody. So they're basically telling everyone to start marking their YouTube content which is all well and good but then you start to look at the specifics the FTC is talking about in the COPPA law and they're being super vague about it. They're saying it's not even just stuff that is explicitly for kids and yet the wording from the FTC is basically saying, "It's not just stuff for kids but it's anything a kid might like." Anything a kid might find interesting they specifically mentioned "video games", "toys", and "pop culture" and even words like "fun" and "cool" and "yeah", things that are "colorful" and "vibrant". It's a catch 22, your YouTube Channel is going to be removed either way. There's nothing you can do about it since it's the U.S. Government that's pushing this.
The wording is so vague that there's a video of an FTC member at a press conference totally out for blood, talking about taking down YouTube content creators like shooting fish in a barrel. They're talking about heavy career destroying fines ($42,000) potentially per video and Google / YouTube of course especially when this all started Google / YouTube is coming around saying, "You guys know what's best, If your content isn't for kids then you're probably going to be fine, gaming is going to be fine...but get a lawyer." Everything that Google / YouTube is currently saying about this isn't lining up with what the FTC is saying, "No, anyone making anything that a kid might like is just doomed. We're either going to fine you or shut down your YouTube channel." Doesn't matter If YouTube isn't taking data for advertisements.
What people are scared of is that COPPA is a federal law, and has a $42k minimum fine associated with its violation per video. The fact is, as a creator, you are not violating COPPA. Google is. You are not the one gathering data on minors. YouTube is. The problem is YouTube will refuse to fix a problem until they're punished for it, and when they do they'll do their hardest to push it on people making videos. They refuse to hire people to fix a problem, only to maximize profit through ads that will hurt kids. YouTube wants all independent content creators off their platform in favor of corporate puppet content creators all in the guise of "We must protect the children."
Bottom line, it's foolish for content creators to utilize YouTube as a primary source of income when they should've gotten a real job elsewhere. YouTube has never been publicly advertised as an actual career to pursue yet a lot of people thought it was designed that way. Everyone should have an offline job where they make enough money to take care of themselves so that they could utilize a video sharing platform like YouTube as a hobby. While I enjoy watching YouTube by my favorite content creators I'd like to think they have enough common sense not to put all their faith on one video sharing platform. Still doesn't mean they should do the same with other platforms because there's little reward for such a high risk. Why try to start a "career" on Twitch or Mixer when they could sweep you under the rug like YouTube has?
So I did some more research on this situation as it led to some very interesting results:
Apparently there was a third audience target that was in the FTC law book. There was a mixed audience exception that Google / YouTube intentionally left out of the recent terms of service, "COPPA only covers information collected online from children. It does not cover information collected from adults that may pertain to children. Thus, COPPA is not triggered by an adult uploading photos of children on a general audience site or in the non-child directed portion of a mixed-audience website."
So what does this mean? It means that 4 years ago the FTC openly recognized that there was a middle ground audience. It just wasn't children's content, it just wasn't adult content, it was content that appealed to both adults and children. YouTube failed to address this general audience in their video marking system. The mixed-audience exception to COPPA is actually in the COPPA law at Title 16 Code of Federal Regulations Section 312.2. So let me paraphrase the law for you, If you make a video that qualifies as a kids video under that famous ten factor test then you don't have to comply with COPPA law.
Also you don't have to get parental consent If kids under 13 are not your primary audience. YouTube had known the entire time about this general audience exception to COPPA and they hid it from content creators. The reason why they did this was that apparently it would decrease corporate profits. At least there's a really good YouTube alternative with Vlare which is better than *****ute IMO. Here's the YouTube video by Ian Corzine explaining what YouTube was hiding from us:
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
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Google / YouTube thought they could break the law and make as much money as long as they could and when things got bad they passed the buck to the content creators cause whenever Google / YouTube messes up it's the content creators that end up having to pay the price for it. They did get fined by the FTC ($170 million) but only a teeny tiny fraction compared to what they make. So the FTC is stepping in and saying, "If you make content that is for kids then you need to mark it as for kids" using YouTube's own little system. It's a little option on your YouTube channel or individual videos can be marked as "for kids". Ideally this would just mean that your video could only be viewable in the YouTube Kids app. That would solve a lot of problems, not sure why it didn't happen that way before though.
Don't know why Google / YouTube isn't doing that in response to this because it would solve a lot of problems, but no instead what happens is that If you mark your video or your channel as "for kids" it means that it will no longer have targeted ads which drastically lowers ad revenue something like 10%. Also you won't get as many views so it's going to be less than 10% because no one can search your video, it will not come up in recommended, people will not get notifications for it. It will basically be invisible so unless someone subscribes to your channel it will be in their feed If they go to it specifically, and it will be on your channel If they go to your channel directly. But it won't be anywhere else, not on YouTube, no discoverability, it's essentially a death sentence for video.
It's not going to make you any money and it's not going to be viewed by anybody. So they're basically telling everyone to start marking their YouTube content which is all well and good but then you start to look at the specifics the FTC is talking about in the COPPA law and they're being super vague about it. They're saying it's not even just stuff that is explicitly for kids and yet the wording from the FTC is basically saying, "It's not just stuff for kids but it's anything a kid might like." Anything a kid might find interesting they specifically mentioned "video games", "toys", and "pop culture" and even words like "fun" and "cool" and "yeah", things that are "colorful" and "vibrant". It's a catch 22, your YouTube Channel is going to be removed either way. There's nothing you can do about it since it's the U.S. Government that's pushing this.
The wording is so vague that there's a video of an FTC member at a press conference totally out for blood, talking about taking down YouTube content creators like shooting fish in a barrel. They're talking about heavy career destroying fines ($42,000) potentially per video and Google / YouTube of course especially when this all started Google / YouTube is coming around saying, "You guys know what's best, If your content isn't for kids then you're probably going to be fine, gaming is going to be fine...but get a lawyer." Everything that Google / YouTube is currently saying about this isn't lining up with what the FTC is saying, "No, anyone making anything that a kid might like is just doomed. We're either going to fine you or shut down your YouTube channel." Doesn't matter If YouTube isn't taking data for advertisements.
What people are scared of is that COPPA is a federal law, and has a $42k minimum fine associated with its violation per video. The fact is, as a creator, you are not violating COPPA. Google is. You are not the one gathering data on minors. YouTube is. The problem is YouTube will refuse to fix a problem until they're punished for it, and when they do they'll do their hardest to push it on people making videos. They refuse to hire people to fix a problem, only to maximize profit through ads that will hurt kids. YouTube wants all independent content creators off their platform in favor of corporate puppet content creators all in the guise of "We must protect the children."
Bottom line, it's foolish for content creators to utilize YouTube as a primary source of income when they should've gotten a real job elsewhere. YouTube has never been publicly advertised as an actual career to pursue yet a lot of people thought it was designed that way. Everyone should have an offline job where they make enough money to take care of themselves so that they could utilize a video sharing platform like YouTube as a hobby. While I enjoy watching YouTube by my favorite content creators I'd like to think they have enough common sense not to put all their faith on one video sharing platform. Still doesn't mean they should do the same with other platforms because there's little reward for such a high risk. Why try to start a "career" on Twitch or Mixer when they could sweep you under the rug like YouTube has?
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbRHuHJlE6o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd604xskDmU
https://knowtechie.com/youtube-can-now-remove-channels-that-arent-commercially-viable/
So I did some more research on this situation as it led to some very interesting results:
Apparently there was a third audience target that was in the FTC law book. There was a mixed audience exception that Google / YouTube intentionally left out of the recent terms of service, "COPPA only covers information collected online from children. It does not cover information collected from adults that may pertain to children. Thus, COPPA is not triggered by an adult uploading photos of children on a general audience site or in the non-child directed portion of a mixed-audience website."
So what does this mean? It means that 4 years ago the FTC openly recognized that there was a middle ground audience. It just wasn't children's content, it just wasn't adult content, it was content that appealed to both adults and children. YouTube failed to address this general audience in their video marking system. The mixed-audience exception to COPPA is actually in the COPPA law at Title 16 Code of Federal Regulations Section 312.2. So let me paraphrase the law for you, If you make a video that qualifies as a kids video under that famous ten factor test then you don't have to comply with COPPA law.
Also you don't have to get parental consent If kids under 13 are not your primary audience. YouTube had known the entire time about this general audience exception to COPPA and they hid it from content creators. The reason why they did this was that apparently it would decrease corporate profits. At least there's a really good YouTube alternative with Vlare which is better than *****ute IMO. Here's the YouTube video by Ian Corzine explaining what YouTube was hiding from us:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwnvjuCTb54&t
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta