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YouTube's Problematic New Restricted Mode Censors LGBTQ Content

"I really do think that this YouTube restriction stops people from being their authentic self," explains Gigi Gorgeous.

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@gigigorgeous on Instagram
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YouTube's always been a platform for LGBTQ voices, but now, it seems, the video site is muffling the channels of some of its most influential creators. The new "restricted mode" is designed "to help screen out potentially objectionable content that you may prefer not to see or don't want others in your family to see on YouTube. We use community flagging, age-restrictions, and other signals to identify and filter out potentially inappropriate content," in the company's words. Which sounds all fine and nice, except that the new filter is also, inexplicably, censoring much of its LGBTQ content, including videos from some of the site's biggest names.

Tyler Oakley is one uber-famous YouTuber experiencing his videos restricted under the new system.

With over 8 million subscribers, it's rather shocking that even such a prominent channel as Oakley's is being considered "inappropriate" for some viewers, simply because Ty is gay.

Oakley isn't the only one speaking out against the harmful new ban, which seems to imply that queerness is offensive for children to see, when in fact the opposite is true. Gigi Gorgeous, who's got over 2 million subscribers and a new documentary, This is Everything, on YouTube Red, has spoken out in (natch) a YouTube vlog, after discovering that the filter makes almost all of her content inaccessible to young people. Check out her informed response below:

"I really do think that this YouTube restriction stops people from being their authentic self," she explains, before continuing to note that the ban mirrors the current trend in politics right now of taking away rights from our community.

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