YouTube Apologizes For Hiding LGBTQ+ Videos In Its Restricted Mode

YouTube's Restricted Mode is meant to filter out inappropriate content from its feed using signals like flags from users as well as age restrictions.This prevents videos that contain explicit materials like for example those with sexual reference to be shown.

YouTube has been reported to hide videos from LGBTQ+ community members that don't actually contain such material in the platform’s Restricted Mode.

One example is a clip of a lesbian couple reading their wedding vows to each other. The video can be viewed normally on YouTube, but it won't show in the channel's video listing when users turn the Restricted Mode on.

Some noted that the similarly themed videos with heterosexual content were not hidden. Many of them were wondering why.

While it isn't clear why YouTube has begun filtering videos this way, the reason why YouTube hides those videos is because of the obvious viewers that use YouTube as a source of information about LGBT issues, history and lifestyle.

So even if the LGBTQ contents are not vulgar, YouTube sees than as inappropriate.

But not only that same-sex marriages and the likes are hidden. Videos that include people talking about their sexuality and even several music videos are also into question.

To answer content creators' confusion, YouTube released a statement in response to the accusations. The statement was posted on YouTube Creators' Twitter account, as shown above.

YouTube also noted that that Restricted Mode, which is off by default, was an "optional feature used by a very small subset of users," and that it was intended to "filter out mature content for the tiny subset of users who want a more limited experience."

To its defense, YouTube also has a note about the Restricted Mode option which says that "no filter is 100 percent accurate." Since the mode uses a number of signals, the platform is relieving itself from blames.

YouTube's CEO Susan Wojcicki tweeted that “the LGBT community means a lot to YouTube” and she was pressing her teams to investigate the matter.