Displaying items by tag: YouTube

A major court case has just begun, designed to examine whether social media platforms are intentionally designed to keep children engaged in harmful ways. A young woman, ‘Kaley’, alleges that after she began using Meta and WhatsApp as a child, she developed anxiety, distorted body image, and suicidal thoughts after prolonged exposure. Company leaders argue they implemented safety measures and relied on research showing mixed evidence about mental health harm. Parents, however, say their children were exploited through addictive features and inadequate age protections. The trial, which started by cross-examining Mark Zuckerberg, might influence hundreds of similar cases and could force changes to how social media platforms operate. The debate raises broader concerns about technology, profit, responsibility, and the wellbeing of young people growing up online.

Youtube has removed a sermon on sexuality by American pastor John MacArthur. The sermon violated their ‘hate speech policy’ when he said ‘there is no such thing as transgender. You are either XX or XY’. MacArthur’s comments related to Canada’s legislation, Bill C-4, which became law on 8 January. Some pastors and church leaders fear it could lead to the prohibition of sermons on biblical sexuality. Christian organisations say the wording of the bill is so broad, it could be used for ‘the criminal prosecution of Christians who speak biblical truth’. Four thousand preachers have affirmed their opposition to the bill and their willingness to speak out against it. Conservative commentator Todd Starnes said, ‘YouTube affirmed the Canadian law by banning any opposition to transgenderism on their platform, and it won’t be very long before the sex and gender revolutionaries target the source of our beliefs - the Holy Bible.’

YouTube has decided to reintroduce John Piper's audiobook 'Coronavirus and Christ' after initially banning it. The audiobook saw a sudden uptick in views after being re-uploaded, jumping from 187,000 to over 200,000 and growing. It hit the spotlight after an atheist group urged the US secretary of defence to punish a military chaplain for sharing a copy of the publication with his colleagues. The book was written both to call for repentance and to bring people into a transformation of thinking, feeling and living in alignment with the infinite values of Jesus Christ.

Chad Robichaux, of the Mighty Oaks Foundation (a charity supporting those suffering from wartime trauma), was told he could not use the label 'Christian' to boost his advert on the Google-owned YouTube platform as it violated the site's advertising policy. When Mr Robichaux objected to their decision, YouTube said that targeting users based on their religion was in breach of their advertising policy, but adverts can include the term 'Christian' in them and still hope to reach a Christian audience. Mr Robichaux then accused the tech giant of religious discrimination, saying, ‘We ran the exact same ad with the keyword Muslim and it was approved but Christian was not. Additionally, we've run ads with the keyword Christian for years. This year alone we had 150,000 impressions on that word in our ads.’ He was told the discriminating policy was new. Google has yet to comment publicly on the matter.