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Program awards users points for flagging inappropriate content, writing captions and subtitles for videos
By Jonathan Ore, CBC News Posted: Sep 22, 2016 4:47 PM ET Last Updated: Sep 23, 2016 3:59 AM ET
YouTube is looking for "heroes" to help moderate its content and comments sections, but early feedback has been overwhelmingly negative with users describing it as crowdsourced censorship.
Users who join the Heroes program, which was announced Tuesday, will earn points for adding captions and subtitles to videos, flagging inappropriate videos and answering questions on the site's Help forum.
Accruing points will earn them privileges like joining video chats with others in the Heroes program, exclusive previews of upcoming product launches and the ability to flag abusive videos en masse instead of one at a time.
YouTube Heroes won't have direct moderation powers on their own, though. Anyone who watches a YouTube video can flag it as inappropriate, whether they're a regular user or a 'Hero.' However, YouTube employees ultimately make the final decision on what to do with content marked as inappropriate.
Users on YouTube made their voices heard almost immediately, with an overwhelming number of Dislikes on the announcement video. It currently has over 200,000 Dislikes compared to 3,000 Likes, after nearly 600,000 views.
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Influencers weigh in on YouTube's 'censorship' controversy
Tanya Dua
@tanyadua
September 6, 2016
73
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With a change in YouTube’s content moderation system, a tussle has broken out between the platform and a faction of its creators.
Controversy erupted last Wednesday, when YouTube creator Philip DeFranco — with 4.5 million subscribers on his channel — uploaded a video titled “YouTube Is Shutting Down My Channel and I’m Not Sure What To Do” in which he claimed flagged about 40 of his videos, citing some of his language and the topics he covers are “not advertiser friendly.” He went on to describe the system as “censorship with a different name.”
YouTube responded that it had not updated any policies regarding which videos are ad-ready and which are not. It has merely changed the communication around it, sending creators a notice when they mark a video as unfriendly for advertisers. The platform also instituted a new appeals process. Still, the hashtag #YouTubeIsOver was trending on Twitter last week.
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Change to algorithm that selects advertiser-friendly videos creates controversy
By Ramona Pringle, CBC News Posted: Sep 12, 2016 5:00 AM ET Last Updated: Sep 12, 2016 5:00 AM ET
YouTube has informed content creators that they will no longer receive payments for videos it deems "unfriendly for advertisers."
Unsurprisingly, the creators whose revenue comes largely from advertisements on their videos are upset. But what does it mean for audiences, and the kinds of content you'll be seeing on YouTube?
"De-monetization" means YouTube decides which videos can collect ad revenue, based on whether they are deemed advertiser-friendly.
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originally posted by: FredT
At some level the internet is going to have to be paid for so its not surprising. Google has moved from its startup mentality to that of an established company holding on to what its got. They paid alot of money for youtube, alot of the moonshots they have taken have not panned out, and now they are looking to maximize revenue streams.
While censorship is a conspiracy, I think in this case its simple money grabbing more than anything else.
Its not shocking that a crowd sourced moderation team is going to be agenda driven. Its basically wiki-video's at that point.