Black YouTubers sue Google – CNET
A group of black people YouTubers sued YouTube and its parent company, Google, claiming that companies discriminate against their videos based on their race. The lawsuit claims that YouTube uses its automated tools to “restrict, censor, and disparage black creators” that hurt their subscribers and earnings, while hosting videos of racist hate speech and allowing them to make money on the website, even after they are made Violation of the YouTube rules.
Her complaint comes in the middle of a national racism settlement in the United States, triggered by the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died after a Minneapolis policeman pushed his knee into Floyd’s neck. YouTube is one of the technology giants that, in addition to public statements of support for the Black Lives Matter movement, make large donations for social justice initiatives.
After announcing one $ 100 million fund to support black creators Earlier this week, YouTube had “some serious declarations to do,” the lawsuit said. YouTube and Google should “spend their money to stop the racist practices that permeate the YouTube platform”.
Complainants of the latest complaint include YouTubers, who are connected to the Lisa Cabrera channel and have more than 20 million views. the Lisa’s View channel with around 11 million views; the True Royal Family and True Royal channels, which together have 3.4 million views; and three channels, which refer to the creator Carmen CaBoom and together have around 550,000 views. All developers who sue YouTube claim that the company has unfairly removed or archived their videos, which affects their earnings.
YouTube said Thursday that it is reviewing the complaint. It added that it allows anyone to post videos that comply with the site’s policies and guidelines that they claim to be enforced in a neutral and consistent manner. YouTube wants the service to include a variety of voices and perspectives, the company said.
Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube, was asked about the lawsuit later Thursday during a virtual event with the Washington Post, saying the company would investigate the complaint and “try to understand the concerns.” She listed some successful Black creators, including Jackie Aina, a beauty artist who focuses on themes for people with color, and Marques Brownlee, a gadget from YouTuber. Earlier this month, Brownlee released a video titled “Reflecting on the color of my skin” in which he shares his own experience of the race.
The lawsuit, which was brought up to the Northern California District Court on Tuesday, accuses YouTube of “overt, willful, and systematic racial discrimination” and says companies “manipulate the game” by restricting these black YouTubers based on their race and block identity, but not the same videos that YouTube itself produces. YouTubers also complain that YouTube benefits from videos with hate speech that keep up to date with website advertising.
The suit also accuses YouTube of “listening” to the creators’ videos with metadata and other signals that its automated systems can use to filter videos by race, identity, or the viewpoint of the creator, channel subscribers, and viewers. Videos of the YouTubers submitting the lawsuit have been restricted, removed, limited in size, or completely demonized in terms of the advertising revenue they deserve.
YouTube said Thursday that its automated systems are not designed to identify the race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation of creators or viewers.
Video demonstration, or removing ads from a video, has been a hot topic among YouTubers for years. The issue is central to another lawsuit against YouTube filed by a group of LGBTQ YouTubers last year. They claimed that YouTube restricted their videos and also restricted their advertising and earnings due to LGBTQ content.
Tuesday’s Black YouTubers lawsuit cited the LGBTQ YouTubers case as a reason for their reasoning, adding that the two cases could be coordinated.
During Thursday’s Post interview, Wojcicki reflected on the past few months, including the chaos of the coronavirus pandemic and protests around the world. She said she understood that people would look back on that time.
“I just want to make sure that I think about things when making decisions to be on the right side of the story,” she said. “It may be difficult at the moment, but how will we think about it in the future?”
See also: How to become a YouTuber: Online courses and equipment to get you started