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LGBT community anger over YouTube restrictions which make their videos invisible

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YouTube's content restricted mode policy claims to protect children and families, but how is it effecting LGBT content? Who is protecting queer and trans youth? ___HELP ME MAKE VIDEOS___ https://www.patreon.com/rowanellis

YouTube has responded to accusations of discrimination from high-profile members of its LGBT community, who have reported their videos being hidden by the platform.

#YouTubeIsOverParty was trending on Twitter on Sunday after several users flagged that their videos referencing same-sex relationships or attraction had been filtered out under its restricted mode.

Rowan Ellis, a British YouTuber with a “feminist and queer perspective” and nearly 22,500 subscribers, drew attention to YouTube’s apparent “anti-LGBT” bias in a video posted on Thursday. Restricted mode is turned off by default but can be turned on to automatically filter “potentially inappropriate” content. According to Google, which owns YouTube, this is identified by “community flagging, age restrictions, and other signals”.

It is not a new feature, but Ellis said YouTubers were “just starting to realise the extent” of its impact: “it is filtering out a hell of a lot of LGBT content”. She said 40 of her own videos had been hidden.

“I think it’s really important to look at why LGBT content has been deemed as inappropriate. This is something which goes far beyond a mistake that YouTube might have made that they’re going to draw attention to and fix later.”

The platform eventually responded late on Sunday in a tweet from its @YouTubeCreators account, after #YouTubeIsOverParty had been trending on Twitter for several hours. It said “LGBTQ+ voices ... [were] a key part of what YouTube is all about” and that only videos with “mature content” were supposed to be restricted.

“The intention of Restricted Mode is to filter out mature content for the tiny subset of 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.” Read more via Guardian