The FTC’s 2020 COPPA rules have YouTube creators scared, Ars Technica

In other words, despite never actually collecting, receiving, or having access to kids’ personal information themselves, Any YouTubers who post silly videos that kids might enjoy are nowpersonally on the hook fo r up to $ 42, per video if they Don’t directly flag those videos as “made for kids.” The FTC goes on to provide guidelines it uses to determine if content is directed to children:(the subject matter,

So far, the solution seems obvious: if a bunch of kids like your stuff, then label it as for kids, right? So YouTube content creators like Maxmello and Wengie — who, much like YouTube itself prior to September, consider their content “family-friendly and general audience, but not child-directed” —just tag all their stuff, and move on. Simple.

Unfortunately, many creators fear that YouTube’s handling of the new “child-directed” content largely amounts to putting said content —To quote the late, great Douglas Adams — on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory, with a sign on the door saying “Beware of the Leopard.”

YouTube gaming content creator

Chadtronicalleges that videos marked “for kids” will have no notifications, no comments, will not be searchable, will not be suggested or recommended, and will make 150 percent less total revenue. Although Chadtronic does not source his claims, they’re being widely shared by other content creators desperately concerned about both legal liability and the impact on their income from the new rules.

YouTube content creator Chadtronic believes that flagging a video as “made for kids” essentially ensures that it will neither make significant money, nor be widely seen. We were unable to find evidence of made-for-kids videos becoming “unsearchable” —or any reliable estimate of the exact impact on ad earnings — but an officialannouncementmade by YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki confirms that comments, notifications, and personalized ads wi ll all be disabled on such videos. Lack of push notifications means traffic will come more slowly to newly posted videos, which in turn could lead to YouTube’s AI based recommendation system deprioritizing videos from that creator because it characterizes them as “less engaging.”In somewhat brighter news, Wojcicki also announced that YouTube will continue “investing in the future of quality kids, family, and educational content “by establishing a $ 150 million fund dedicated to the creation of “thoughtful, original children’s content.”Thoughts from a concerned parent

Meanwhile, the things I genuinely do worry about regarding my kids’ safety on YouTube — trollssplicingsuicide instructions into videos, or making Peppa Pigdrink bleach, or bizarre AI-generated contentwhich could be subtly shaping young minds in unforeseen and unproductive ways — will be far less affected. The trolls presumably aren’t making significant revenue in the first place, and the AI ​​farms are already operating on the principle of giant swathes of cheaply-produced garbage, rather than directly employing humans to carefully create appealing videos.I hope that Wojcicki’s $ million fund eases the impact on clearly-for-children content creators like (Blippiand the parents behind Ryan’s World. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely to help creators such as Chadtronic or Maxmello and Wengie, who make “child-hearted” content for general audience consumption. Such content could easily fall afoul of the FTC’s regulatory enforcement — but would likely not fit YouTube’s classification of “thoughtful, original children’s content,” since it wasn’t intended specifically for children in the first place.

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