The
back story all started when the FTC informed You Tube (YT)(Google) that
they were in violation of COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection
Act) by collecting data from kids (13 and under) and the algorithm
directing ads at them. You Tube remedy was to not allow kids under 13
from having a YT account. So what happened? They lied on the form and
said they were over 13 and/or asked their parents can they watch videos
through their accounts.
Children's advocacy groups felt the rules didn't go far enough and the FTC sued YT for $175 million!With
that they created another rule putting all the liability on the video
creators saying they need to mark their videos that are directed at
children as such. when the creators do this they lose out on a
percentage of the ad revenue, as well as other perks to grow the
channel.
YT went through all the videos on
the platform and marked the ones that were child directed or child
attractive. But were very vague on what it all meant. When asked, YT
told the creators to consult an attorney. But that's not
the end, starting Jan. 2020, the FTC will go thru the videos. Some
bureaucrat in DC will look for videos that have been mis-marked and can
fine the creator up to $42,000 per video!
The
creator who's video I watched - Andy's Hobby HQ - says that the age
analytics of his videos falls between the high teens and 65 years old...
No kids. It isn't the 60s were models were an interest of kids. But
some pencil pusher in DC can look at one of his videos and think "Oh
scale models... they're toys... toys for kids." And hand down a the
fine. Andy says he has a few hundred model videos. That's a lot of $$.
Even
tho not all video creators are in the US, they must abide by these
rules, and those that say no will simply get their channels turned off.
Many of the creators these days use making videos as their livelihood.
Many creators are simply afraid and sadly willing to walk away from
their channel leaving us with any of the content we like to watch -
model building and painting.
Now the FTC
says it's will listen to the public, so we need people to sign the
petition and write or email the FTC politely. There is a link below of
talking points to be mentioned.
This is a list of sites to check out:
Write a comment to the FTC: https://bit.ly/31XAEXJ
Suggested Talking Points for Creators: https://bit.ly/31SwLmI
Suggested Talking Points for Viewers: https://bit.ly/2Wptf1U
Sign our Petition: http://chng.it/kLnwsSJzFv
This is great YouTube video explaining COPPA: https://youtu.be/1b9HGNHm-aQ