Elsagate
 | |
| Date | 2014 - 2019 |
|---|---|
Elsagate was the heavy promotion by Youtube of videos that were aimed at children. The videos showed violence (child abuse), sexual situations, fetishes, drug/alcohol consumption, injections, toilet humor, and dangerous or upsetting situations and activities,[1][2] which reflected psychopathic and pedophilic traits.
Contents
History
These videos, by 2017, were distributed by a significant number of channels and were displayed as proposals at random by the Youtube system when the user was watching content like cartoons, so much so that there were only few, or no other videos beside those centered on this theme in the recommendation list that Youtube displays next to all videos. This circumstance could suggest that Elsagate videos were part of a social experiment, like some that have been admitted on Facebook, so Youtube adjusted the algorithm to to achieve a massive view count.
Actions taken by Youtube in 2019
A Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into the handling Youtubes's use of data from children under 13 years old and subsequent monetary penalization did bring changes that are aimed at preventing similar circumstances in the future and could well be part of the settlement with the FTC.[3][4]
Monetization
Since many videos/channels of that nature had millions of views and were at the time "advertiser friendly", thus being monetized, for which Youtube has a system in place that can check and decide on a case by case basis down to a single video,[5] the administration at the very least must have been aware of this content being hosted on the platform.
Banning in other countries
The highly probable damaging effects to children have been recognized in China, where these videos have been banned.[6][7][8][9] The commercially-controlled media in the US did pick up on the topic relatively fast, at least since March 2018.[10]
2025
"Cute Cat" videos
Another attempt to push this type of content (in certain respects more disturbing) on children via Youtube, did start in 2025 with the mass upload of AI generated "Cute Cat" videos.[11]
Related Document
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:What is ElsaGate.pdf | Article | Theouterlight | Introduction into Elsagate. |
References
- ↑ End Elsagate videos saved at Archive.org saved at Archive.is
- ↑ https://vigilantcitizen.com/moviesandtv/something-is-terribly-wrong-with-many-kids-videos-on-youtube/
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20190901105846/https://www.tubefilter.com/2019/08/30/ftc-fines-google-150-200-million-for-youtube-child-data-privacy-violations-report
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20191114194028/https://www.tubefilter.com/2019/08/23/youtube-updates-child-safety-policies-to-remove-adult-themed-videos-aimed-at-kids/
- ↑ https://www.tubefilter.com/2016/09/07/youtube-demonetization-controversy/
- ↑ Chinese authorities ban 'Elsagate' videos, launch investigation saved at Archive.org saved at Archive.is
- ↑ "Brainwashing of children globally" - reporting in Chinese media on the more violent aspects of these videos saved at Archive.is
- ↑ http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1086663.shtml
- ↑ https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2133053/tencent-and-baidu-china-censors-crosshairs-allowing-disturbing-childrens
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20190306141628/https://www.boston25news.com/news/parents-disturbed-by-videos-featuring-violence-on-kids-app-1/718408215
- ↑ https://vigilantcitizen.com/vigilantreport/theres-something-terribly-wrong-with-cute-cat-videos-on-youtube/
