YouTube Has Been Quietly Censoring LGBTQI Videos & Ppl Are Furious About It

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Published

March 20, 2017

We know that YouTubers are extremely popular and influential. They’re people that are so relatable and real that their fans go absolutely bananas over following their lives and experiences. YouTubers undeniably hold a lot of power to speak passionately about things that mean a lot to them, and because of their cult status, people listen.

A lot of YouTubers – including the wildly popular Tyler Oakley – are a part of the LGBTQI community, and as such, their content regularly discusses their experiences, relationships, and interests. Nothing alarming about that, folks.

A bunch of YouTubers have discovered that a lot of their content – primarily stuff that is explicitly about their experiences as queer folk – have automatically been censored by YouTube, allowing them to fall into the pool of ‘restricted content’ on the site.

With the click of a button YouTube’s restricted mode makes me appear straight. Even when you dig/type in my name + bisexuality, this happens pic.twitter.com/JKbivanJdS

— Melanie Murphy (@melaniietweets) March 19, 2017

The restrictions on content are not a new feature of YouTube, but popular YouTuber Rowan Ellis explained in a video recently that people within the LGBTQI community have started noticing that a heap of their videos, especially those about their personal lives, are being automatically restricted or blocked by the platform.

It’s not just YouTubers, either. Turns out a whole bunch of musicians that speak out about LGBTQI issues have also fallen under the restrictions, which is just straight up weird.

this just in, @YouTube ‘s restricted mode seems to think @troyesivan ‘s entire channel is inappropriate??? #YouTubeIsOverParty pic.twitter.com/EOPUyop0Om

— ??????. (@teahops) March 20, 2017

The realisation that content that is being essentially silenced by YouTube censorship sparked the Twitter hashtag #YouTubeIsOverParty, which gained speed so quickly that it pretty much pressured the video platform to speak out about the site’s algorithms.

A message to our community … pic.twitter.com/oHNiiI7CVs

— YouTube Creators (@YTCreators) March 20, 2017

Now whether this means that YouTube will remove the opt-in restrictive content algorithm until it y’know, it stops the actual erasure and silencing of LGBTQI experience is yet to be seen. But Tyler Oakley‘s got a good idea of best steps to take until the content machine is fixed.

until we hear back from @youtube, please actively check on all LGBTQ+ creators you’re subscribed to & continue to support their content.

— Tyler Oakley (@tyleroakley) March 19, 2017

Photo: YouTube / Tyler Oakley.