Will the new FTC ruling and COPPA affect me?

I don't know.

Maybe.

I'm very scared.

I didn't' want to bring attention to this, but I am a mess. I can't sleep, I can't eat. I'm terrified.

Some of you may already be aware of what is going on because it's all over youtube. If not here is a very condensed synopsis. This is all my own best understanding of the situation and I am certainly not a lawyer so take what I say with a grain of salt and understand its me doing my best to understand the situation we are in.

COPPA is a law that protects children, making it illegal to track and store information about children 13 and under online.

Youtube/Google is 13 plus to sign up for an account. This means in theory anyone signed in and using a google account has deemed themselves over 13 making it legal for google to track their info and give them personalized ads.

Google is skynet level smart. They realized that millions and millions of children under 13 were watching youtube on their parent's devices and accounts. Because they make an account 13 and over they figured they had a loophole, which they probably did, to track kids activity and direct personal ads to kids. They openly bragged to big advertisers that they could do this.

The FTC caught on. The FTC sued them. The FTC won. $172 million fine.

Ok, no problem yet.

Youtube, as per the settlement, created a system where content creators now had to mark their videos as "for kids" or "not for kids". Youtube gave some very vague guidelines on what constitutes for kids and straight up said "if you are unsure consult a lawyer". These guidelines are based on the language in COPPA that is very broad and vague. Lawyers at this point in time, even ones specializing in social media or advertising, can't advise on this as it's not clear. Content creators must decide form themselves.

If you mark your content as "for kids" personalized ads are turned off meaning you lose the majority of your ad revenue. This alone isn't so bad, and really any creator should have a diversified set of income streams to accommodate this sort of loss. The problem is that youtube also decided to remove other features on "for kids" content. This content will no longer have comments section, likes/dislikes, end cards, info cards, subscriber notifications will be turned off, and worst of all THE VIDEOS WILL NOT BE SEARCHABLE. This basically blacklists your content and makes it invisible. This is devastating. Content creators making content for kids will need to massively readjust their business model to find a way to survive, and I believe many small businesses will go under because of this.

Youtube created AI that has scanned all the content on youtube and it is deciding if something is for kids or not, no matter what you say. AI isn't perfect, it will make mistakes. None of my content was flagged in this way.

Up to this point people like me should be fine, right?

Well, no, this is where it actually get's scary. By creating that self declaration it has made every creator legally liable for their content. If the FTC believes your content is "for children" and you said it wasn't, they can sue you. In a recent press conference they stated they will be going after and suing creators. Their quote was "shooting fish in a barrel". The fine is over $40,000 per video infraction. The youtube AI will be disregarded in this. The FTC will be reviewing themselves with their own criteria. So if some person at the FTC reviews my channel and doesn't understand our hobby and thinks what I do is for kids they can impose life ruining fines and destroy my life. Now the fine amount is still really unknown, that's the max, they stated they may be using a multiplier on the revenue you earned from a video in violation, but we really don't know. Either way it would destroy a channel.

Now it gets even scarier. COPPA as it stands is in regards to "child targeted/directed" content. It's pretty safe to say I don't make my content targeted at children. But they were planning on making it stricter to include "child appealing". So that could be ANYTHING.

No channel is safe really. Crafting, art, adult toy reviews, model train enthusiasts, adult animators, historical videos about dinosaurs?.....anything could be deemed "child attractive" under this.

There are a few "death of youtube" scares on youtube every year like this, but this is by far the biggest and most serious one to ever take place. Lives will be ruined. Businesses will be ruined. Content you love will disappear. 

The irony is that after these changes go through Jan 1st, all child friendly content will basically be invisible on the platform and kids will still be watching, but instead of finding wholesome content with child targeted ads they will be in a sea of adult focused content with contextual ads for things like whisky. This will also harm children.

The only good news in this is that the FTC has extended public comment on this until Dec 9th. They want to hear how the public feels. They are also talking with several larger youtubers who are trying to inform them of the devastating consequences of this action.

I implore you to please sign this petition:
https://www.change.org/p/youtubers-and-viewers-unite-against-ftc-regulation?recruiter=1015502725

If you really want to help you can also write to the FTC (please be well worded and respectful) about how you fear these changes will affect you as a viewer and especially your children, and how it may affect adult oriented channels you love.
https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FTC-2019-0054-0001

I don't make content FOR children. But I try to always make my content safe for children because I know they may end up seeing it. I want parents to be able to watch my videos with their kids in the room. Now because I play with "toys" and have an animated intro, I may possibly have my life ruined.

This is no joke guys. I am terrified and I can barely function. I don't know what to do.

PS: no things like adding "13+" warnings to content, or swearing more in vids, or whatever won't help or change anything. The only way this situation improves is if the public can convince the FTC to be more reasonable in the changes.

Please at the very least sign the petition. I am seriously considering stopping until this is all clearer and resolved. The only reason I may still upload between now and then is because I have an obligation to do so to you guys.