Youtube Removes David Icke From Search Results for Kids
David Icke has been removed from the video platform's search results
© press
Following Youtube's recent "purge" on specific alternative youtube channels, British author David Icke has been removed from the video platform's search results for children according to reports.
According to James Cook, the Technology Editor for Business Insider UK, Youtube hasn't just banned David Icke form showing up on the Youtube search results on the kid's platform, but they have also vowed to remove content on their platform if Wikipedia label it as a “conspiracy theory”.
Business Insider reports: Search for "UFO" on YouTube Kids and you'll mostly find videos of toys that are clearly fine for children to watch. But one of the top videos claimed to show a UFO shooting at a chemtrail, and we found several videos by prominent conspiracy theorist David Icke in the suggested videos. YouTube removed the videos from YouTube Kids after we contacted it about the issue.
One suggested video was an hours-long lecture by Icke in which he claims that aliens built the pyramids, that the planet is run by reptile-human hybrids, that Freemasons engage in human sacrifice, that the assassination of President Kennedy was planned by the US government, and that humans would evolve in 2012.
Two other conspiracy theory videos by Icke appeared in the related videos, meaning it was easy for children to quickly go from watching relatively innocent videos about toys to conspiracy content.
YouTube said in a statement to Business Insider that "sometimes we miss the mark" on content appearing on YouTube Kids and said it would "continue to work to improve the YouTube Kids app experience."
Here's the full statement from YouTube:
"The YouTube Kids app is home to a wide variety of content that includes enriching and entertaining videos for families. This content is screened using human trained systems. That being said, no system is perfect and sometimes we miss the mark. When we do, we take immediate action to block the videos or, as necessary, channels from appearing in the app. We will continue to work to improve the YouTube Kids app experience."
The YouTube Kids app blocks searches for most unsuitable videos. Search "9/11" or "porn" and you find no results. But we found that buried in the app's suggested videos were conspiracy videos that children could stumble on.
If you searched for "moon landing" on YouTube Kids, three videos appeared that claim that the moon landing was hoaxed. All three videos have since been hidden by YouTube after we informed it of the issue.
