One of the things being re-confirmed for me right now, as more and more big YTers come out and address past videos, is that Youtube has failed to uphold its own policy to the point that "accountability" is a choice a creator gets to make, not one that's expected by the platform.

I want everyone to learn/grow/change/do less harm. It's necessary. But, I do think about some of the incredible creators we've lost, who couldn't deal with the harassment and violence directed at them by fanbases who were quick to ignore a decade ago and quick to forgive today.

The platform itself holds responsibility and it's complicit in the space it gives to creators to violate those policies. None of the initiatives or programs matter if at the CORE of it, it can't differentiate between free speech and hate speech.

I'm saying this as someone who has spent almost half their life here/who credits so much of my time here with the best parts of who I am and what I do - but every SJW that got bullied off this site bc they were begging the platform to help/protect/consider/enforce deserves more.