[dodobirdlord]

They’re getting hammered from the left for insufficient moderation of content, and from the right for overly aggressive moderation of content. It’s a lose-lose where the only real option is to remove extraneous features that enable users to upload content visible to others. Even if there was a standard of moderation that would satisfy everyone, there’s too much to moderate.

[reaperducer]

Even if there was a standard of moderation that would satisfy everyone, there’s too much to moderate.

If only Google had a half a trillion dollars to spend on something other that spying on people. And if only there were 35 million people out of work.

But, alas, poor sweet simple Google cannot possibly lie in the bed it made.

[at_a_remove]

Ah, so in this version you have thirty-five million people who could agree on what is offensive. That's a daunting task without the "million" involved to begin with.

[reaperducer]

in this version you have thirty-five million people who could agree on what is offensive

Yes, because that's literally what the parent posited in his scenario:

"Even if there was a standard of moderation that would satisfy everyone"

[VLM]

The point is not to censor to match current sensibilities but to censor to push society in a direction. It doesn't matter if almost everyone hates what they're selling as long as they eventually push hard enough to sell it. They are, after all, an advertising company at heart.

[eyelidlessness]

When you get hired as a regulation enforcer in any other scenario, it’s not your opinion but the actual regulations that determine your recourse. If it’s up to the opinions of the enforcement regime, that’s because the rules are unclear or opaque.

[creato]

The fact that you believe something like content moderation can be boiled down to some hard and fast regulations, let alone a set of regulations that people could agree on, is honestly kind of scary.

[at_a_remove]

I've been on various forums with "moderation standards." The different moderators still have different approaches and different reputations for being a soft touch or heavy-handed. Human moderators, despite having standards or guidelines in front of them, are not consistent. When confronted about it, they will cite interpretations, "reading the room," discretion, and so on.

We have seen this scenario play out in censorship standards, various authorities, and so on over the decades. It never works as intended.

[MattGaiser]

Google made the bed for free and others wanted to pee in it. The rest blamed Google for the bed having pee in it and demanded they do something, including post 24 hour guards around the bed.

I would take the bed away too.

[mdoms]

Ah yes, YouTube, that product that Google made and that doesn't bring them any revenue. Two things that are definitely true.

[rrdharan]

You realize that revenue and profit are distinct?

Uber has massive revenues as do many other capital intensive businesses. That doesn't make them profitable.

[fakedang]

Last time I checked, YouTube ads were a very profitable business.

The parent to your comment chose revenue likely to note that Google makes money from the bed ie. it's not a service given away for free.

[martinpw]

Where did you check this? AFAIK YouTube profits (if any) are not broken out anywhere. At least not as of early this year:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/03/google-still-isnt-telling-us...

Alphabet said YouTube ad revenue in the first quarter reached $4.7 billion, while cloud sales came in at $2.6 billion. The company broke those numbers out for the first time, but it’s still not disclosing profit figures for the units.

[root_axis]

Is the definition of the word "free" another casualty of this era? It's literally free...

[MattGaiser]

The bed referred to the community generated subtitles, not YouTube overall.

[spc476]

Some math shows that can't work. Half a trillion to 35 million is US$15,000 per person.

For one year. And people will complain that US$15,000 is not enough to live on.

What happens in year two?

[TheOtherHobbes]

Google goes bust?

That's not likely, is it?

Does Google have no concept of how YouTube drives ad sales and other synergies? Or of how much goodwill is worth?

[spc476]

Does any company make $500,000,000 a year?

[footlose_3815]

That's a different argument. The justification for the removal was spam, no?

[dodobirdlord]

This seems in line with other recent actions like disabling comments on broad swaths of YouTube videos. The given reason may be spam but it looks like there’s a pattern of surface area reduction.

[raxxorrax]

I have the demand that they stop their abusive tracking. Would they ever do that? No. So I guess they want to become TV to pacify advertisers.

[specialist]

Core problem is coupling "virality" and moderation. They're incompatible goals.

Remove the gamification and few would care that moderation lags.

The platforms try to mitigate virality with automated moderation. Anything to preserve that ad revenue.

The only societal fix is to slow down or break the engagement feedback loops. Something the platforms won't do voluntarily.