[Source: Associated Press, Carston Rehder]
The newest generation is always fighting with the older generation, and in the middle of that argument is social media. Billions of people around the globe use social media. Even though cyberbullying is continuously a problem, a large range of people use social media such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, and Twitter.
YouTube especially, is used by young children. YouTube disabled user comments on videos featuring minors and children “after revelations about a glitch exploited for sharing of child pornography.” Last February, YouTube shut down videos featuring children to protect them from comments that are considered sexual and negative comments that they do not deserve.
One of the famous instances that made this possible was due to Theeyae, a Korean Youtuber who is in elementary school. She posted ASMR videos, in which many users enjoyed her simple, pure, and cute videos. However, even a great number of users were jealous of her popularity. Her video featuring eating radish kimchi was taken down due to the jealousy of many users, who reported one of the most popular videos on her channel. Her parents stated in a interview that “Even with what has happened to her, she’s pretending like everything is okay.”
YouTube’s comment limitation applied to videos that featured minors under 13. YouTube said in their official YouTube Creator Blog that they “recognize that comments are a core part of the YouTube experience and how you connect with and grow your audience. At the same time, the important steps we’re sharing today are critical for keeping young people safe.”
Users who learned about the instance, had negative thoughts about the idea of one’s children being a YouTuber. One comment said that she wouldn’t want her child being a video creator because of the worry that the child would be hurt by the rude comments and explosion of her information.
For more information about the Youtube policy, go to https://youtube-creators.googleblog.com/.
Minseo Park, Grade 10
Crescenta Valley High School
