When YouTube suddenly began disabling comments on a lot of videos at the end of February, many creators grew concerned. Without comments, how were they supposed to communicate with their subscribers?
All comments on my @YouTube videos are currently disabled.
This has been done by YT and not the creators.
I don’t think it will be forever and I’m told (by other creators, not anyone directly at YT) that it’s to have an audit/clean up.
Very sorry for the disruption <3 xxxx— Louise (@LouisePentland) February 25, 2019
Soon after, YouTube announced on its creator blog that the disabling of comments was part of its efforts to protect minors on the platform.
Comments on videos featuring minors have been disabled.
YouTube said it disabled comments on tens of millions of videos featuring people under the age of eighteen. The platform took this action to protect these minors from predatory behavior.
Currently, these actions are focused on younger minors. However, as YouTube reviews more videos in the coming months, videos featuring older minors who are at risk of attracting predators may also have their comments disabled.
A select number of affected channels will be able to moderate their own comments.
YouTube also said that a small number of channels will be able to keep comments enabled on videos featuring minors. However, these channels will be required to actively monitor their own comments.
Only channels that demonstrate a low risk of attracting predatory behavior will be allowed to keep comments enabled on videos featuring minors. The platform also ensured creators that this number will expand as the tools used to catch predatory comments improve.
There is a new comments classifier in place.
YouTube has already developed a more effective classifier to identify and remove predatory comments. It’s supposed to detect and remove twice as many individual comments as the previous tool.
The new classifier will not affect the monetization status of any channel or video.
Listen to Philip DeFranco discuss the overall issue more in-depth in the video below.
Disabling comments on videos featuring minors is only one of the platform’s strategies for protecting children. YouTube is dedicated to protecting minors, which is why it’s been removing any channels that attempt to endanger children in any way. You can be a part of the solution by flagging any harmful videos or comments you see.
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Kristen Harris enjoys listening to a wide range of music, from Taylor Swift to, on occasion, Celtic instrumental. She also spends her time writing, reading, and baking.
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