This project investigates the demonetization and censorship of LGBTQ creators on YouTube after the implementation of YouTube’s “Restricted Mode.” In March 2017, video bloggers on YouTube, also known as vloggers, began noticing decreases in advertising revenue and views on certain videos. Many soon realized that their videos were being blocked from younger viewers in YouTube’s restricted mode, or being demonetized entirely. The online LGBTQ community took one of the hardest hits during this time, with many creators finding their videos flagged as “inappropriate for advertising”, unavailable in restricted mode, or removed from the platform altogether. Using “data humanities” methods, this project examines which subsets of the LGBTQ community were affected most by this censorship, and how this discrimination reflects larger issues of mis-, dis-, and non-information surrounding the LGBTQ community. This research also highlights the obligation that democratized platforms have to their creators and users, and the ways that poor representation of minority groups can harm the adolescents in those groups.
About the presenterNicolette Shaye Riggin
I am a recent graduate from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County with degrees in Media and Communications Studies and Visual Arts. Most of my work explores the way the Internet helps people understand themselves and form their identities.