YouTube fixed the bug in its Restricted Mode that was accidentally censoring LGBTQ+ content, the Google-owned company announced earlier this week. The existence of the issue was originally unveiled last month when thousands of individuals and some advocacy groups took online to protest YouTube’s decision to prevent access to video content created by or pertaining to the LGBTQ+ community from Restricted Mode, though the company promptly denied those allegations and attributed the censorship to an issue with its algorithms, apologized for the ordeal, and promised to fix the problem as quickly as possible. As YouTube revealed in a release published on Friday, Restricted Mode has now been modified in a way that allows 12 million more videos to appear in it. Though not all of those newly uncensored videos are directly related to the LGBTQ+ community, “hundreds of thousands” of them are, the company said.
In addition to algorithm changes, YouTube also announced a new communications channel that content creators can use to get in touch with people running the service and its Restricted Mode in particular. The feature was launched as a simple online form that allows people to report what they deem are wrongly censored videos and ask Google’s video service to investigate the matter. The form allows any user to report cases of unwarranted censorship by simply sending the URL of their YouTube channel and video ID(s), though they can also opt to send worded feedback to the company. YouTube said this feature was launched following weeks of talks with various content creators and some unspecified organizations who provided feedback on its Restricted Mode and repeatedly asked to be allowed to report potential cases of inappropriate censorship.
Also as part of YouTube’s official response to the controversy outlined above, the firm’s Vice President of Product Management Johanna Wright detailed specific topics that Restricted Mode’s algorithms look for when deciding on whether to censor content on the platform in an effort to make the feature more transparent. Among other things, the Restricted Mode was designed to exclude videos pertaining to substance abuse, overtly sexual subjects, violence, and profanity, Wright revealed. Refer to the source link below to find out more about YouTube’s reasoning behind how Restricted Mode works.