YouTube Stopped Censoring LGBTQ Vloggers
2017 has been chock full of wtf moments, but this one really threw me for a loop.
Last month, it was discovered that YouTube’s Restrictive Mode was hiding LGBTQ content in the same way that it hides “Adult” or mature and offensive content.
Well today, the peeps at YouTube announced in a blog post that it was in fact a mistake, and they’ve fixed the issue.
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Joanna Wright, VP of Product Management at YouTube, wrote that the restricted mode was “unintentionally filtering content … that shouldn’t have been.” While the Restrictive Mode is optional, it did have a huge impact on YouTube’s user experience and “now 12 million additional videos of all types — including hundreds of thousands featuring LGBTQ+ content — are available in Restricted Mode.”
She even listed out what Restricted Mode is, and what it was originally intended to weed out: drugs and alcohol, sex, violence and other mature topics.
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In fact, YouTube now even has a feature where you can voice a complaint if you feel that a YouTube video has been wrongly restricted on this form.
While we’re on the subject, you should follow these really amazing LGBTQ YouTubers whose videos are now unrestricted: Gigi Gorgeous, ThatSoJack, Brendan Jordan, WOW Presents and Hannah Hart.