Is YouTube in big trouble?

I wouldn’t call myself a tech-geek as such, but I appreciate and enjoy seeing new things come in to the market. I look forward to the next innovative idea, from software, hardware to any type of consumable. We are after all heavy consumers, and what makes us happy today, will be obsolete and boring tomorrow. Tech companies have a huge challenge as consumers get hungrier for innovation and advances in technology. The next generation and the generation after that are no different. My two children under 5 are heavy-weight consumers of content. They love YouTube and Netflix and all those other mediums for constant entertainment. The internet brought with it so much innovation and freedom making information and experiences more accessible like never before. If I want to see a beach in Rio, I can do it from the comfort of my chair in Essex. If I want to see how the Samoans cook Luau (which I’ve never tried, but sounds delicious), I can do so by logging on and typing my thoughts into a box in one of the search engines. Life is great eh? It couldn’t get any better, and then one of the tech giants releases something else that apparently ‘we need’.

But like with everything that is great, there is a dark side…

Being a parent and overall nice guy means that when I hear about disturbing trends like Blue Whale and Momo, I wish that life was simple again, before the internet, before the tech companies made our lives stressful. If you haven’t heard of it already, Momo is the latest online “game” that encourages young people to harm themselves and in some cases even take their own lives. Momo, described as a WhatsApp “suicide challenge”, features an avatar of a woman with dark hair, pale skin and oversized eyes, who sends young people images and instructions on how to harm themselves and others. These instructions are backed by fear-mongering tricking the children into believing that if they do not comply, their parents and other family members will be harmed. Young people are impressionable and in most cases, very easily lead. When someone online tells you that they know where you live after they have just messaged you on WhatsApp or via a game you are playing – you will most likely believe them. After all, how did they get your number in the first place? How did they access your favourite games? And for me, the most disturbing fact is that hackers can access YouTube whilst your children are watching it and intercept them with these disgusting messages. If you’re a parent like my wife, then you would have deleted YouTube off every device in the house immediately.

I’m a big fan of Google, Apple and the other innovators of our time. I’m a big fan of the internet and the huge advances in technology I’ve seen in my lifetime so far. But when a company is making millions of dollars each year, employing over 100,000 people, surely they have a duty of care towards their customers? The internet helped create these giants, helped them grow and become what they are today. But ultimately, will the anonymity of the internet be the cause of their downfall?

There have been recent reports that some seemingly innocent videos on YouTube and YouTube Kids (such as ‘surprise eggs’, unboxing videos and Minecraft videos) have been edited by unknown sources to include violence provoking and/or other inappropriate content. Even though YouTube monitor and remove videos that include inappropriate content, clips can be uploaded and viewed thousands of times before they get reported and removed. As a parent, it’s difficult to spot these videos as the harmful content doesn’t appear until partway through the video. Why would someone want to do that?

What was the Blue Whale challenge?

A forerunner of the Momo challenge, the Blue Whale Game is believed to have been started in Russia in 2016 by then 21-year-old ex-student Philipp Budeikin. In July a Siberian court sentenced him to three years in jail after he admitted inciting at least 16 teenage girls to commit suicide.  The phenomenon has been linked to 130 suicides in Russia “and there have been reports of young teens playing the game as far afield as Italy to Iran and Bulgaria to Bangladesh”

The unnecessary deaths have led to huge criticism of tech giants and their failure to stamp out the Momo game, which has spread over sites including Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube. The Daily Telegraph found dozens of videos promoting the challenges on YouTube and also included phone numbers for strangers. The investigation resulted in YouTube taking down one of the videos.

What does this mean for YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat? Who is ultimately responsible for safe-guarding the next generation? What does this mean for parents who not only have to protect their children in the real world, but now have to protect their children in an ever-changing digital world? I have more questions than answers right now. But the one thing I do know is that parenting has become a lot harder since the introduction of smart phones and the generation of unlimited content.

“Technology is, of course, a double edged sword. Fire can cook our food but also burn us.” – Jason Silva

“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.” – Gertrude Stein

All opinions and view points expressed in this article are my own and do not represent any company I work for, have worked for, or will ever work for.