some things about the new youtube ai id verification policy:
it is currently only being rolled out in the USA. EDIT: It is currently in use in the USA, the UK, Switzerland, and other countries in the European Economic Area (dunno which) with plans to implement it in more places.
it is likely you will not be targeted for watching media associated with children like letâs plays, old kids cartoons, or slime videos. what you WILL be targeted for is watching YOUTUBE KIDS content. these are videos that do not allow comments and cannot be added to playlists. that is, if the ai works correctly.
people criticizing this policy have already lost videos and have had videos struck for âchild endangerment.â
much of this information comes from Deep Humor on youtube who has covered this policy in depth as itâs been rolled out. i donât know if he has his videos archived anywhere else though.
things you can do if you Have to keep watching youtube: most importantly, DO NOT give them your id, credit card, or video/image of your face. use an ad blocker. support creators directly through patreons, ko-fis, etc. tell other people about the boycott and new policy. use a VPN. watch videos that are age-restricted, that is, not marked for kids, to build up a âpositive watch history.â
things for people to do who are boycotting: CANCEL ANY PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION. download videos to watch offline. iâve heard yt-dlp mentioned most often but have no experience with it myself. email and send letters to youtube about this policy. if you live in the USA, call your reps about KOSA. 5calls has a script for it. watch other streaming services like netflix and twitch: this is to show youtube people are switching away from their platform. i also suggest learning to sail the high seas. there are some youtube videos on the internet archive you can still watch, but iâve heard conflicting things on whether places like newpipe or revanced still give youtube views. listen to your local radio station, catch up on movies/tv shows, or simply find something else to do like a hobby or craft. look into the right to repair movement. start moving away from google: change your gmail account to a different mail, back up all things on google drive and use a different word processor, find a different search engine.
you donât have to do ALL of these things, i know this is an overwhelming list. but if every person who sees this does one or two things, or stops watching youtube with me until the policy gets rolled back, i count that as a win.
this will be a long process, you cannot expect to be back watching youtube next week. i know it will not be easy. remember: we can survive without youtube, they cannot survive without us. privacy is a human right.
