Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by Murdoch 2673 days ago
This issue was brought to YouTube's attention by another content creator. They say they are working to disable comments on some videos and delete some accounts. Its tough when kids upload innocent videos and it is the comment sections that become filled with predators.

I do want to say this MattsWhatItIs guy appears to be motivated by attention and ignored the fact that Youtube was looking into this and continues to push for people to go after advertisers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLsYQYHHqoM

3 comments

People likely feel that they are not doing (or spending) anywhere near enough on the problem. Particularly because many of the gripes with YouTube have gotten deliberately worse, yet the situation with stuff like creepy Elsa videos (and by extension, creepy comments and suspected pedophile activity) has not improved for years.

The 'adpocalypse' showed that the best way to enact any meaningful change on YouTube is to get the advertisers riled up. So that's the lever they're going to focus on.

I think it's always going to be a double-edged sword at best.

It's convenient that simply disabling comments allows youtube to continue monetizing these videos while pretending pedos aren't their main audience.
Frankly, getting advertisers involved is probably the best way to get actual meaningful action taken.