YouTube star Felix ‘PewDiePie’ Kjellbergd has given his take on YouTube’s new controversial COPPA regulations in his latest video.
PewDiePie is undoubtedly the most popular YouTuber in the world, gathering a mind-blowing 102 million subscribers during his time with the platform.
Although he rose to fame thanks to his entertaining gaming videos, the Swede now produces a wide variety of content – including taking on controversial issues.
One key problem that YouTubers currently face are the new COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) regulations, which creators are finding incredibly difficult to understand.
These new regulations stem from a fine that the platform received in September 2019 for collecting children’s personal data. It affects every content creator, forcing them to inform the platform if their content is made for children.
PewDiePie reviewed these regulations and found that not only do creators need to inform YouTube about their content, but the platform will also use machine learning to decide if videos are for children.
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This is something that shocked the Swede, with him sarcastically stating: “machine learning has worked so well before on Youtube”, taking a dig at automatic copyright claims and other controversial automated systems.
Felix then found something even stranger, a video stating that according to these new rules, content creators can be sued for violating COPPA regulations. “What? Why? That makes no sense… control your children please” he said, clearly disappointed with the fact he can be punished for children viewing his content, and for his content being automatically flagged as child-friendly even if they aren’t.
PewDiePie then used his own channel as an example to show just how severe the punishments can be. “I have 5000 videos on my channel, if 24 of them get deemed as targeted for kids, then I owe them $1 million…. epic.”
The issue with this is not only are the punishments extremely severe, but YouTube has been pushing for content to be more family-friendly, and are now seemingly punishing content creators for it.
Even PewDiePie himself stated that a lot of his content could be seen as child-friendly as he’s been following the platforms guidelines, and now he’s worried it may cost him.
A lot of other content creators have spoken up about the matter, with many having similar views as the Swede. YouTube has not yet issued a response, but it seems there may be even more controversy regarding the platform.
