YouTube Lifts Restrictions On Gay Content

YouTube said they’ve fixed the Restricted Mode that blocks some LGBT content.
The filter, which blocks content deemed not be ‘family friend,’ came under fire a few weeks ago for blocking seemingly harmless content.
Gay YouTuber Calum McSwiggan turned on the family filter and discovered all of his videos except for one disappeared.
Other YouTube personalities noticed the same thing, with content discussing LGBT sexuality filtered out.
But in a statement released on Friday, YouTube said: ‘We fixed an issue that was incorrectly filtering videos.’
It continued: ‘We want to clarify that Restricted Mode should not filter out content belonging to individuals or groups based on certain attributes like gender, gender identity, political viewpoints, race, religion or sexual orientation.
‘Now 12 million additional videos of all types — including hundreds of thousands featuring LGBT content — are available in Restricted Mode,’ the statement clarified.
YouTube said they spoke with creators to come to a conclusions about what to do.
They said: ‘Starting today, we’re providing a form to allow creators and viewers alike to give us feedback about this.
‘We will use this input to help improve our automated system going forward,’ the statement read.
YouTube breaks down what is deemed ‘restricted’ under the established guidelines, including drugs, alcohol, sex, violence, mature subjects or profanity.
The guidelines are still quite subjective, but this latest clarification offers transparency to the social media platform.

Restricted Mode: The backlash

After users discovered the oversight in the video platform, many attacked YouTube for it’s double standards.
When Tyler Oakley and Gigi Gorgeous addressed the issue, the hashtag YouTube Is Over Party trended on Twitter.
YouTube issued an apology for the oversight, but users weren’t impressed by the lack of action.
A YouTube spokesperson tweeted: ‘We regret any confusion this has caused and are looking into your concerns.
‘We are so proud to represent LGBT voices on our platform – they’re a key part of what YouTube is all about.’
But one user replied: ‘‘Thanks for telling hundreds of thousands of gay kids and teens that their existence is inappropriate and offensive, YouTube.’