With over 2 billion users uploading YouTube videos on the platform, things get crazy. But YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki says YouTube is open to all content.
In a letter addressed to creators on YouTube, Wojcicki writes YouTube is committed to remaining open. If it wasn’t open, YouTube would suffer. While this isn’t a new concept, Wojcicki says she’s held on to. But this time around, it’s important for Wojcicki to make her stance clear. Her company’s ethics and philosophy have been questioned. Specifically, the platform has faced criticism for housing content that spreads harassment, hateful ideologies and misinformation.
“I believe preserving an open platform is more important than ever,” Wojcicki writes, referring to users who upload as a hobby or for profit. Much of the letter focuses on making it clear Wojicick wants YouTube to stay open to creators.
Wojcicki wants to reassure creators YouTube will open
Critics, regulators, and politicians have recently been proposing numerous ways to cut down the protections offered by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. This act is very important to the freedoms creators on the platform have. Essentially, the act allows YouTube, along with any other internet platform, to house any kind of content without being held liable for the content uploaded. The act does give those platforms the ability to regulate the content uploaded.
While some creators may upload things that offend and are controversial, Wojcicki says YouTube is okay with that idea of housing “content that is outside the mainstream, controversial, or even offensive.”
What about YouTube videos that violate policy?
To be clear, Wojcicki doesn’t mean YouTube will host every and all video uploaded. She draws the line at videos that violate their policy. However, she states that’s very rare, yet damaging.
“Problematic content represents a fraction of one percent of the content on YouTube and we’re constantly working to reduce this even further,” she writes. “This very small amount has a hugely outsized impact, both in the potential harm for our users, as well as the loss of faith in the open model that has enabled the rise of your creative community.”
Freedom vs. order
The fine line YouTube has to walk is allowing creators to upload what they want and still keeping some kind of order on the site. To try and do this, YouTube uses its algorithm and human employees to police everything that is uploaded. However, YouTube’s system still has its issues. It tries to limit the distribution of videos that won’t satisfy advertisers, but they reassure us that that doesn’t necessarily lead to a ban. Wojcicki and YouTube hope to continually improve its system by constantly creating new rules to guide its moderators. Also, it’s trying to find new ways to create a tiered advertising system. The system would allow creators that YouTube approves of to make money more easily on the platform.
When it comes down to it, YouTube needs to stay open to its creators. It was founded on this ideology. Many have questioned if YouTube still holds this idea of content freedom close. However, Wojcicki’s letter argues otherwise.
Image courtesy Guardian News
