YouTube Block LGBT+ Content with New "Restricted Mode" Feature

https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/19/youtube-lgbt-restricted-mode/

“We are so proud to represent LGBTQ+ voices on our platform—they’re a key part of what YouTube is all about. The intention of Restricted Mode is to filter out mature content for the tiny subset of our users who want a more limited experience. LGBTQ+ videos are available in Restricted Mode, but videos that discuss more sensitive issues may not be. We regret any confusion this has caused and are looking into your concerns. We appreciate your feedback and passion for making YouTube such an inclusive, diverse, and vibrant community.”
 
I honestly thought this was a parody thing mocking shortsighted and awful business decisions when I first saw it, but nope

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Funny thing is if that did happen there would be no outcry. It's only when the LGBT+ is affected when it's actually newsworthy to the media.

I guess "Christians" are just too busy *****ing and moaning about how everything else offends and is an attack on their bigoted beliefs to find the time for this

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I have never, and will never, understand why on earth some people think "SJW" is an insult, and that being one is a problem.

"oh, you advocate for better representation, rights, and protections of marginalized and minority groups?.... uhh.... how can we use this against you? wait I know! since this is calling for social change to give these groups of people fair justice in the system, we will call you a social justice warrior! yeah, take that, u damn sjw!!!!"
 
keyboard warrior actually sounds rather ridiculously cool in a strange silly way

just imagining someone beating somebody over the head with a keyboard like its some battle axe or something
 
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I know, right? Especially when "keyboard warrior" is a much better term to mock people.

Ya I don't really get that insult (?) either - people have always used the tools at hand to get things done. In today's world, basic computing skills are a necessity.

Granted, "warrior" sounds pretentious to me, but I don't see why using the tools available is a bad thing.
 
Meh, it's probably based on certain keywords.

At my school there are two Smoothwall filters: A strict one and a pretty relaxed one. Most people get thrown under the strict one. The strict one blocks all sorts of things, from social media to certain newspaper websites. The pretty relaxed one doesn't block much at all - only Tumblr and some of the more extreme websites on the internet.

Anyway, they both block gay stuff, under "pornography". Someone complained on Reddit in 2014. A friend of mine even searched for "help me im gay" (under the pretty relaxed filter) and it was blocked. Unsurprisingly, "help me im straight" wasn't.
 
keyboard warrior actually sounds rather ridiculously cool in a strange silly way

just imagining someone beating somebody over the head with a keyboard like its some battle axe or something

Oooooh now that is imagery that I'll remember! I don't often get called either directly, I'm not the easiest target to pin facile descriptions like that on. But I'll get a laugh - or at least a smile - out of that mental image whenever I see those terms thrown around. Thanks!
 
Also, both block Imgur. I find that more ridiculous. It's not a bandwidth thing because video streaming websites are only blocked under the strict one.
 
Also, both block Imgur. I find that more ridiculous. It's not a bandwidth thing because video streaming websites are only blocked under the strict one.

School filters are usually appalling. In year 8 my health class had an assignment that included researching breast cancer. We had class time scheduled in the library to use the computers, and that is the day our teacher, 2 other teachers, all 3 librarians, the year level coordinator, the junior school coordinator, 2 assistant principals, and the principal herself found out that the word "breast" and any variation thereof had been blocked on the school computers. It was fascinating to see the debate and discussion that took place. In the end I consider it a valuable learning experience, although having to complete the assignment outside of school sucked (1996/7 wasn't a great time for easy internet access..).
 
lol u all trying to defend this like Lmao Wat

youtube shouldnt encourage homophobia or transphobia

i get the need for a filter for schools and whatever where u dont want kids to see sexy or violent stuff but not everything abt the lgbtq community is Sexy Sex Dot Com Slash Sex. cishets keep sexualizing the lgbtq community so much and i want 2 Die . if theyre going to censor lgbtq videos for being 2 Innapropriate thats Extremely anti the colmunity. they claim it isnt intended to be homophobia and transphobia but if it was the same for cishets theydcremove all straight stories about Love and every cis person who talks about being a boy or a girl !!! but thats not happening and you all who are defending it of saying that it's understandable or not homophobic are Rly Not Great.

this is censoring of a community that has had to fight for such a long time to be seen, heard, accepted and get their rights. i am seriously disgusted by the people in this thread who are defending it.
 
School filters are usually appalling. In year 8 my health class had an assignment that included researching breast cancer. We had class time scheduled in the library to use the computers, and that is the day our teacher, 2 other teachers, all 3 librarians, the year level coordinator, the junior school coordinator, 2 assistant principals, and the principal herself found out that the word "breast" and any variation thereof had been blocked on the school computers. It was fascinating to see the debate and discussion that took place. In the end I consider it a valuable learning experience, although having to complete the assignment outside of school sucked (1996/7 wasn't a great time for easy internet access..).

Yeah... I guess a lot of your class had to go the library.
 
I see where you're coming from and I think we're definitely starting from two different places.

I work with children and feel reasonably confident with my understanding of children both in theory and in practice.

Children and their supervising adults routinely look up random things like wedding videos, cultural celebrarions around the world, natural disasters, animal habitat information, dinosaurs, how-to videos of all kinds (barring 18+ content, of course), history, the weather, genetics... the list is endless, but I have personally done each of those things dozens of times in the classroom and outside of those times with hundreds of children.

Searching google (or siri) is the default research technique young children learn to use these days. I take great pains to use other methods (encyclopedias, library trips, asking experts) and encourage their use as well. But we live in the digital age, and our children grow up using technology to learn more about the world and answer many of their questions.

There's usually no judgement attached to random searches like this, though responsible adults vet the content prior to letting the child view it.

I don't really agree with your premise that someone looking up "lesbian wedding" thinks that those must be different from heterosexual weddings. As an educator I have used such terms to quickly find suitable content for my program, and I know most of my colleagues and the parents I work with do the same thing. If you know a keyword that will cut down your search time, you'll probably use it when you're pressed for time.

That said : people don't have to type in "lesbian wedding" to see this video. The algorithms use criteria including previous history, key words, and demographic data to generate the "recommended" content. This video can appear in that list and in searches without the word "lesbian" - provided the restricted setting is off.

Children are born inquisitive and eager to learn. I don't believe that access to content such as "lesbian weddings" should be restricted from children, regardless of whether or not a particular child will ever go looking for that content.

You're not understanding where I'm coming from still lmao.
 
Yeah... I guess a lot of your class had to go the library.

Haha at least one local library had the same filter on (I think it was based on their age), so those girls who tried that were out of luck.

In the end we were given an extention and the assignment was adapted to not require online research. Which was a shame since part of the point was for us to be searching for genuine health information online..

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You're not understanding where I'm coming from still lmao.

I'm sorry. Where are you coming from then?
 
Haha at least one local library had the same filter on (I think it was based on their age), so those girls who tried that were out of luck.

In the end we were given an extention and the assignment was adapted to not require online research. Which was a shame since part of the point was for us to be searching for genuine health information online..

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I'm sorry. Where are you coming from then?

That I'm not directly talking about LBGT content being block and that children shouldn't look them up. If you specifically program your computer to cut down specific searches then I honestly don't see how a child can still look up "lesbian weddings" not that you mention a supervisor adult is next to them. When I made that comment awhile back mentioning how growing up I didn't have a problem with my sexuality because a lof of kids on the internet was "XD bisexual". I honestly thought the "XD" took it away because during my time, literally every kid was into being "bisexual" (that emo phrase, rawr dinosuar ****) and honestly still didn't know what being bisexual meant even if they went to a random definition site and gave you the term.
I agree that this content shouldn't be block from kids but I honestly think that them looking at information wouldn't still "help" them.
When you gave the example of a wedding, I honestly thought that they had to be "specific" with their search because that would still make them feel indifferent to the point that they have to look up something highly specific. "Is this normal?". When you mention the adult, that to me just show the the adult look it up, not the kid cause the kid honestly doesn't ****ing know. Even if their curioisity cave in, they still wouldn't know. If 8 year old me was conflicting their sexuality and a "supervision adult" decided to give me a article about sexualities, I would honestly be bored out of my ****ing mind. My whole inclination is that it's normal for anybody to love whatever. A wedding is a wedding. If two of my Aunts were to get married to their spouse, by the end of the day, it's a wedding. I would still have to wear a dress or a gown and be bored out of my mind while I can be home playing toys or whatever(still 8 year old me lmao).

But I think all we're doing is listing "experiences", and I honestly don't see the world as black and white tbh.
 
lol u all trying to defend this like Lmao Wat

youtube shouldnt encourage homophobia or transphobia

i get the need for a filter for schools and whatever where u dont want kids to see sexy or violent stuff but not everything abt the lgbtq community is Sexy Sex Dot Com Slash Sex. cishets keep sexualizing the lgbtq community so much and i want 2 Die . if theyre going to censor lgbtq videos for being 2 Innapropriate thats Extremely anti the colmunity. they claim it isnt intended to be homophobia and transphobia but if it was the same for cishets theydcremove all straight stories about Love and every cis person who talks about being a boy or a girl !!! but thats not happening and you all who are defending it of saying that it's understandable or not homophobic are Rly Not Great.

this is censoring of a community that has had to fight for such a long time to be seen, heard, accepted and get their rights. i am seriously disgusted by the people in this thread who are defending it.

chillax fam.

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Meh, it's probably based on certain keywords.

At my school there are two Smoothwall filters: A strict one and a pretty relaxed one. Most people get thrown under the strict one. The strict one blocks all sorts of things, from social media to certain newspaper websites. The pretty relaxed one doesn't block much at all - only Tumblr and some of the more extreme websites on the internet.

Anyway, they both block gay stuff, under "pornography". Someone complained on Reddit in 2014. A friend of mine even searched for "help me im gay" (under the pretty relaxed filter) and it was blocked. Unsurprisingly, "help me im straight" wasn't.

Wait, your schools block internet access by words?

Every school I've been to only blocks certain sites and domains. Such as adult sites, forums, social media, shock sites, yahoo questions (or whatever that site is), video streaming sites and variations of search engines. At my first school they blocked Google, so we could only use Bing. Then the IT team blocked Bing so we couldn't search for anything at all (we had to use a Russian Google) and then they unblocked Google but set the default search engine to Bing, so every time we put something into the search bar it would be blocked. So we had to go to Google's domain via the search bar and then search from there. It was crazy.
 
Wait, your schools block internet access by words?

Every school I've been to only blocks certain sites and domains. Such as adult sites, forums, social media, shock sites, yahoo questions (or whatever that site is), video streaming sites and variations of search engines. At my first school they blocked Google, so we could only use Bing. Then the IT team blocked Bing so we couldn't search for anything at all (we had to use a Russian Google) and then they unblocked Google but set the default search engine to Bing, so every time we put something into the search bar it would be blocked. So we had to go to Google's domain via the search bar and then search from there. It was crazy.

We've had some annoying experiences with search engines being blocked. I'm just grateful we're no longer forced to use Internet Explorer 8.

And yeah, it's filtered based on words, but I'm not sure to what extent. Right now, I'm posting this at school, and this is under the stricter filter which blocks my own profile and the Gamers' Lounge section on here. I'm actually surprised this thread isn't being blocked, as one discussing gambling (I think) was.
 
chillax fam.

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Wait, your schools block internet access by words?

Every school I've been to only blocks certain sites and domains. Such as adult sites, forums, social media, shock sites, yahoo questions (or whatever that site is), video streaming sites and variations of search engines. At my first school they blocked Google, so we could only use Bing. Then the IT team blocked Bing so we couldn't search for anything at all (we had to use a Russian Google) and then they unblocked Google but set the default search engine to Bing, so every time we put something into the search bar it would be blocked. So we had to go to Google's domain via the search bar and then search from there. It was crazy.

Blocking keywords was how schools in my area did things back when I was in school. Particular sites were also banned, but the internet was a lot different before search engines became as powerful as they are now. I remember when "Ask Jeeves" (a kind of butler website that would go and search for results for you, with quite a narrow scope) was *revolutionary* lol.

Yikes, that sounds crazy - and such a waste of time.
 
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I'm disappointed that Jeeves is gone. Now it's just Ask. :(

Poor Jeeves. #justice4jeeves :(

A sidenote, as someone who has experience with hacking and being hacked, Ask/Ask Jeeves is normally the go-to search engine to steal user's information (not that I've ever done that or needed to). If your computer's been hacked, hackers will install Ask/Ask Jeeves and use your information. It's like a death sentence, not only because it's a rubbish search engine. Not to mention your name, everything you've searched and information goes to the government/FBI's databases when you use it and can be accessed by third-parties/hackers.

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this is actually hilarious, given how bing is basically porn search engine

True. It's also a good one-sentence horror story.

"I went to her computer and her default search engine was Bing." dundundunnnn
 
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