On Saturday morning, nearly a dozen YouTubers discovered that their channels had been mistakenly shut down.
There is an audience that connects all of these channels. Each of them has included in the title or tags (YouTube keywords) of their videos the term “CP”, which YouTube’s algorithm interprets as “child pornography”.
In Pokemon Go , for example, the term “CP” refers to Combat Power, which some channels use and YouTubers complained about their channels being unjustly banned. However, the issue was resolved a day later.
In a statement to Newsweek, a YouTube spokesperson said that “with the sheer volume of videos on our site, we sometimes get false alarms. When we are informed that a video or channel has been removed in error, we act quickly to restore it. We give users the opportunity to appeal these decisions and we review the videos in question.”
And while these channels have come face to face with the algorithm, others have managed to outsmart it to share what the platform is trying so hard to combat.
Just a day after the incident, YouTuber MattsWhatItIs uploaded a video titled “Youtube is Facilitating the Sexual Exploitation of Children, and it's Being Monetized (2019).” The video has garnered over half a million views. According to him, the platform is essentially a network that covers up such activities behind seemingly innocent posts.
Starting with a new YouTube account on a VPN, Matt searches YouTube for the term “bikini haul.” As he clicks on more videos, the algorithm begins to recommend what it thinks will increase his watch time. “The Algorithm decides what content you should watch, with the goal of staying on the platform as long as possible, watching more videos. This makes the platform more revenue,” Matt says in the video.
None of the clips shown are sexually explicit, but they do show little girls doing gymnastics. These videos can have tens of thousands or millions of views. However, viewers may not be so innocent.
Most videos have comments disabled, but others are filled with sexually explicit comments about the children's bodies or movements.
YouTube has a very strict policy against child pornography. According to YouTube’s community guidelines, “protecting the emotional and physical safety of minors is a priority for YouTube.” If a report is sent to YouTube and it is confirmed that a moderator is seeking to sexually expose or exploit minors, the content is reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children or to the appropriate authorities.
In a statement to Newsweek about the video, a YouTube spokesperson said that “any content – including comments – that endangers minors is abhorrent, and we have clear policies prohibiting such behavior on YouTube. We aggressively enforce these policies, reporting it to law enforcement, removing the content from our platform, and terminating accounts. We continue to invest in technology, teams, and partnerships with charities to address this issue.”
YouTube is a place that can be exploited by people with bad intentions, even when the company takes active measures against them.
