Hello, Little Buns! It is Stef, welcome back to my home.
Today, I want to talk to you about something a little bit... Um... Horrendous?
That's been happening lately with YouTube, and it's got a lot to do with some of the changes they've been making
for the past year to year and a half, and they haven't really been discussing.
The most recent of these changes has been YouTube's "Restricted Mode".
I thought this was when your videos were labelled as "Age Restricted" and the monetization was taken away.
I was mistaken.
This is something entirely different, it's a whole other beast, and it's a lot worse.
LGBT YouTubers have been finding that, on the Restricted Mode, most of their videos
and in some cases all of their videos or their entire channel, is not accessible.
It just disappears. It's not there.
And I'm not talking about, maybe, sexual channels, channels that discuss a lot of sexual things. Nothing like that.
Because "Restricted Mode" is marketed or is being labelled as something that's "family friendly"
and for kids. Right?
So they take away all of the "kid-unfriendly" content,
but that just happens to be only LGBT content.
Do you see the issue?
Like, it's a very clear problem.
What this is assuming is that there are no such thing as LGBT kids or LGBT families.
Because they're assuming that LGBT topics are "kid-unfriendly" and "family unfriendly".
Which is not further - it could not be further from the truth. It could not be further.
I'm not sure if this was intentional. Because, if it is, that's gonna have to change immediately.
And you're going to have to come out and publicly apologize, YouTube, for what you just did.
If it's unintentional, you're gonna have to do that anyway.
Because what the f***?
What have you -- what algorithm or system or key words have been put in place to detect LGBT videos
and label them as "unfriendly for children"?
What?
Is it, maybe, a tag on the video that says "sexuality"?
Maybe? I don't know.
Either way, the way that these videos are selected needs to be changed.
Because it is not performing what it's supposed to be doing.
There are videos of literal Nazis talking about white supremacy, talking about how black people are
subhuman, how LGBT people are subhuman, that do not get restricted in the "Restricted" section.
But a gay couple talking about how much they love each other? Restricted.
That's inappropriate for kids.
It's not like it's even a problem that's hard to see.
It is very blatant,
and it's very present,
and I don't know how long it's been happening, but very very recently
pretty much every LGBT YouTuber has been made aware of this by their viewers
being like "Yo, what's up with your video list? Like, why are there are thirty-eight videos missing from your channel, Stef"?
Thirty-eight of my videos are gone off of the "Restricted Section".
All of my surgery videos are gone.
Even the pre-surgery consultation where I'm talking to Dr. Spiegel
where there's nothing even remotely bloody, bruised, nothing. Just me talking to a doctor.
Restricted.
A makeup tutorial for trans-women: restricted.
Why?
I don't even think I swear in that video.
I don't think I even swear in that video, and I know it's not swearing that gets a video black-listed on
"Restricted Section", because I swear in almost every video
and most of them, again, are not on the Restricted section.
But most of my most recent videos that have to do with LGBT topics: restricted.
The one where I talk about transgender student rights: restricted.
Which is a video I made for trans students who are under eighteen
and the Restricted section is made for people under eighteen.
So, this is a problem.
Because the resources that LGBT YouTubers, including myself, are trying to give
to young LGBT people, unless they make an account saying they're older, they cannot access.
And while of course many, many kids do that,
I did it when I was under eighteen just so I could access videos without worrying,
they should not have to.
The fact that YouTube, whether intentionally or unintentionally,
is telling LGBT YouTubers and youth that LGBT topics are not appropriate for children
is incredibly damaging.
It is incredibly damaging and it's not hard to understand why.
You are telling LGBT kids that what they are, who they are, is inappropriate.
It is "not for kids", that their identity is something that is "sexual".
And this is a problem that we've seen for ages, for years, for decades,
maybe even f***ing centuries,
where LGBT people are turned into sexual deviants. They're seen as sexualized one-hundred per-cent of the time.
And that is not the case.
We are not sexual beings one-hundred per-cent of the time.
We are just as sexual as cisgender people are.
There are videos that are not restricted of dudes with bulges, just -- their genitals are just right out
not even, it's not even visible, obviously. But you can see the outline. You can see a clear dick print.
That's not restricted.
But my video talking about surgery for transgender people is restricted.
My video teaching makeup techniques for transwomen: restricted.
Like, what is the priority here?
How is this protecting children?
It's not. It's not.
This is 2017. YouTube and Google are trying to be progressive. They're trying to be like,
"Look, we support LGBT people". They're doing all these movements.
Just recently, I was contacted by Youtube asking me to participate in a campaign for Transgender Day of Remembrance
and promoting Gigi's documentary, it's kind of like a joined thing.
And then they turn around and tell us that our content's restricted?
Okay.
And it really bothers me that this is so obvious and that we're talking about it on such a huge platform;
we're talking about it right on the website. And YouTube has not even acknowledged it yet.
And it would not be hard for them to be like "Whoa, okay, we made a mistake, this is unintentional. Let's fix it".
They're not even saying that. They have not said one goddamn thing as of right now,
just to confirm that: it is Sunday, March 19th at 7:42 PM in Canada.
So, as of right now, in this moment they have said nothing about it.
They have not even acknowledged that they've put in place some kind of algorithm or system
that is blocking LGBT content for kids.
I understand maybe one of my videos, like, "Life as a Girl With a Penis",
which has been demonetized and Age-Restricted, which I kind of take issue with
because you're basically saying that my body is inappropriate.
And, like, I understand that you see the word "penis" and you're like "Oh, this is a sexual video", but it's not a sexual video.
Okay? So...
I'm disputing that.
But a makeup tutorial for transwomen is not inappropriate for kids.
It is not inappropriate for kids.
And it's not -- again, it's not only me:
Alayna Fender, like oh my gosh, literally every LGBT YouTuber has videos that are not accessible.
Gigi, probably even Shane's bisexual video is restricted.
Any coming out video is restricted.
Like it's any -- there's entire channels of lesbian couples that people can't access on restricted mode because
"it's inappropriate for children".
It is not inappropriate for children. This blows my mind that YouTube has not acknowledged this.
I understand if there's a legitimate mistake and they tagged maybe "sexuality" as something inappropriate
because they don't want sexual videos on Restricted Mode.
But these videos aren't sexual, and this person should've been aware that sexuality is a larger conversation
than just sex.
And if they weren't, they sure as hell are right now and YouTube needs to acknowledge
and fix this.
They have not even acknowledged it and it's been at least three or four days since this has become
a really obvious issue that people are aware of.
And I figured, "Okay, they're gonna talk -- they're gonna fix this within a couple of days because it's so clearly"...
... "against everything that they are trying to promote, or trying to endorse which is inclusion, making your own space in the world,"...
... "being yourself, expressing yourself".
It is so clearly the antithesis of that and they haven't even acknowledged it. And that is why I'm so angry.
I understand when companies make a mistake, they should fix it.
No acknowledgement. Nothing. It's been days and so many YouTubers, very large ones too
not just medium ones like me or smaller ones. So many YouTubers have made videos about this
like, what is up, YouTube?
Help us understand how this happened and then fix it.
There's not much else I can say because it is so clearly not correct.
YouTube is not a Christian company. Google's not a Christian company. There's no reason for them
to tell LGBT people that they are not a part of society.
There's no reason to tell us that we are not "kid friendly".
Because I will tell you right now, the majority of my viewers --
and I'm not saying that if you don't fit in this demographic you can't watch my videos, not saying that at all --
but right now, the majority of my viewers are young LGBT kids that want to feel like they belong to something,
that they're a part of something, they want to feel like they're not a freak,
they want to feel like can be successful, that they can live past the age of eighteen,
that they can survive high school, and what you're telling those kids
is that they're a threat to children, that they're a threat to their peers, and that they should not be LGBT
which, you know what, is not an option.
Because if you are LGBT, you are LGBT.
And there is no getting out of that.
Anyway, I really do hope YouTube acknowledges this and I really hope this has not impacted any of your viewing experiences
and I will tell you: I'm not sure how to turn off Restricted Mode.
I'm not even sure how to turn it on. I've seen people send screenshots of my channel and graphs of
"this is what videos aren't there". And it blows my mind.
Please look out for YouTube acknowledging this in the next few days.
If anything happens, tweet at me, let me know immediately because I want them to fix this really badly.
Just keep your head up if you're a young person watching this
and somehow it has not been restricted.
Just know that you are not a threat to other people, unless you have committed a violent crime.
Okay?
You are not unnatural, you are not a freak. You belong, you are a part of something bigger.
We're in this together, and none of the LGBT YouTubers are going to rest until this is reversed.
Because this is so blatantly, just, a slap in the face.
You know what I mean?
Goodness, gracious me.
Alright, until next time. Just know that, like I just said, you are amazing and you are a human being
and you are not a threat to the world, and you can be successful and live past the age of eighteen and you will survive.
You know what I mean? Just know that.
I love you so much. Thank you for hanging out with me and I will see you later, okay? I love you so much, bye!