Shooting at Youtube HQ
On April 3rd, 2018, the unexpected happened at a
social media giant, YouTube’s HQ. After multiple tweets went out, everyone was
fully aware of the situation regarding an active shooter on YouTube’s campus.
There were many speculations as to what happened and what caused the shooting
to occur. The shooter was a YouTuber with a popular background in Iran
according to an article on Forbes.
She was a victim of a new process of YouTube trying to control the content
being posted labeled as demonetization.
Posting videos on YouTube can be a source of income as a
very small side job or some even make it their living and spend their free time
making videos to post. YouTube, being owned by Google, allows companies to put
ads on videos if the company feels the video is censored enough to advertise
their product and is a good medium for them to get their product or service on
the market.
The companies doing the advertisement will often refuse to
put ads on a video if there is copyrighted music, vulgar language or any form
of explicit content they don’t want to be associated with. You can’t really
blame them and in most cases, if not all, YouTube has no control whether
companies want to put ads on videos or not. If a company sees the video unfit
to host their ads, YouTube will demonetize the video. This can be frustrating and
obviously it sent this young filmmaker over the edge.
After injuring 3 employees she too her own life on site at
the headquarters in San Bruno, CA on April 3rd. Leaving many
questions behind it was a tough time for creators and employees at the office.
Instilled with fear, loved ones and the community gathered around them with reassurance
of better times to come. There was also a select group who did not choose to
offer comfort but rather criticism.
In trying times such as this, there is no need for the
negativity but just like every other aspect of the internet, there were trolls
who started making obnoxious comments and even started the trending hashtag
#censorshipkills. More comments were made saying YouTube brought this o themselves
by demonetizing videos which is not only insensitive but also very unfair to
say. As I mentioned earlier, YouTube has no control over the advertisers
deciding whether or not they add content to creators’ videos. Putting the blame
on YouTube makes no sense and it should be brought to light how the whole
process actually works before any accusations are made.
I don't know where exactly I stand on gun control whatsoever, but it's so heartbreaking that shootings are so seemingly normal nowadays. No one deserves a shooting to occur in a place where they are supposed to feel safe, no matter what. It's a hard situation to understand and comprehend and I can easily understand the frustration; however, it's sad and unnecessary that such unfortunate actions were taken by someone frustrated by the matter.
ReplyDeleteAaron,
ReplyDeleteI have not heard of this event until now. I completely agree blaming YouTube makes no sense. People always try to find excuses to blame others for shooter's actions. They may blame the parent's parenting, bullies, etc. I do believe in some situations there are others to blame besides the shooter but for this situation, this is not the case. I do not know what the woman had going on in her life but between her and YouTube, she is the one at fault for her actions. It is crazy to think how people in this world chose to react. Obviously, this is not the right choice.
Thanks for sharing,
Crystal
Wow I did not hear about this event so I enjoyed reading about it and being in the know. I do not know where I stand on gun control but I do know it can happen anywhere. You hear about shootings in schools not at workplaces so this had to be a wake up call to everyone. As far as censorship goes, I think in this world, you can never please everyone. Someone is always always unhappy. You do what feels right for the company and suffer backlash. But it should never be in the form oh physical harm.
ReplyDelete