The more I learn about #COPPA, the more afraid and demotivated I am to continue making content. I want to. I really do, but holy s*** you guys. Now buckle in because I highly encourage you to continue reading what I have to say if you are unaware of this serious issue.

Under COPPA (Child Online Privacy Protection Act), content creators are REQUIRED BY LAW to mark their videos as "children's content" if it is believed to have themes that are attractive to kids. Now this is extremely vague because kids like a lot of things. Games, toys,...

Music, animations, bright colors, etc. Anything that could appeal to children, is deemed "children's content " and if content creators mark their video as "not for children" but the #FTC disagrees with them, they can be sued and fined up to $42,000 PER VIDEO!!! This. Is. Insane.

Channels that mark their content as "children's content" will then be ineligible for personalized ad revenue, a community tab, video comments, endcards, notification bell, and much more. And at this point, why even make children's content?

Many of your favorite content creators, may just cease to exist because it's not practical to continue making content. Much of the content you see will be shifted to more mature themes and kid's content will become a dying genre on YouTube. Kids Will Still Watch.

Kids will still watch YouTube. But if YouTube shifts to a more mature platform, guess what they'll be watching? Mature content. However that becomes defined. And again, even if a channel claims to not be marketed to children, if it APPEALS to children, it's "children's content."

Guess what my channel is about? A mobile game. My fellow #WUtubers are in the same boat. Even if we make content for adults. It appeals to children. Many of your favorite content creators, may just cease to exist because it's not practical to continue making content anymore.

Many content creators who truly believed their content is not kid directed will be fined. This is a serious issue that deserves much more attention than it is presently getting. I plan on making a video. I'm just not as eloquent in my words as many others who've spoken about this

So what can you do? You can educate yourself more on the topic. I recommend this video here to help you get started:

Sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/the-federal-trade-commission-youtubers-and-viewers-unite-9045ee7f-f6f0-460e-b088-3429209dd7c6?recruiter=1015502725&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition

Write a civil comment to the FTC here (deadline Dec 9th): https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FTC-2019-0054-0001

We can make a change together. Please consider doing the things I listed above and help save our beloved #YouTube platform. It's easy to dismiss this, especially if you're not a content creator yourself. But you will be affected too. The children will be too.

Deadline to send the FTC comments on this issue is December 9th. Please make your comments civil. We do not have a lot of time. Please #StandTogether against this reform.