YouTube has been under fire lately for its shift towards censorship. It started with preventing producers from selling ads against videos that YouTube didn’t approve of, and now they have created a reward system for people to report “inappropriate content.”
With the YouTube Heroes program, users get points for flagging content that they find troublesome. Those “heroes” can trade in their points for exclusive YouTube rewards like sneak previews and direct access to YouTube staffers, or they can test content before goes live. YouTube hopes this sort of community moderation will make YouTube “better for everyone.” But one thing is for sure. It will make YouTube ripe for radical social justice warriors who want to wipe the Internet of all things they don’t like. YouTuber Jacksepticeye, with over 12 million subscribers, pointed out some hypocrisy from YouTube before the program has even rolled out completely.
Youtube uploads video about boosting the community with “Youtube Heroes” but turns off the comments? Sending a great message
— jacksepticeye (@Jack_Septic_Eye) September 21, 2016
Other YouTubers also noted the problem with the new program.
The “Youtube Heroes” program seems a bit like throwing everyone who wants one, a gun and badge, because you didn’t build up a police force. pic.twitter.com/Ga4pS5nW7T
— Philip DeFranco (@PhillyD) September 21, 2016
As someone who has been targeted and mass-flagged by people who dislike me, this shot from the YouTube Heroes vid makes me feel v uneasy. https://t.co/nXKpz3xnsC
— Ellen Rose (@icklenellierose) September 21, 2016
By allowing mass-flagging of videos, where users will not even have to watch videos in order to report them, the program opens up the floodgates for angry people from any side to silence people they do not like. YouTube’s message to the Internet seems to be that you can either fall in line or get out, and this latest step could be the tipping point for some users.
