Here’s Why Content Creators Got So Mad At YouTube Today

Earlier today, some YouTube content creators got pissed. Really pissed.

They were (wrongly, it turns out) under the impression that in order to link to Patreon crowdfunding accounts or other personal websites from inside their videos, YouTube was going to require them to run ads.

But YouTube says it’s not requiring content creators to run ads, it’s only requiring them to join the YouTube Partner Program, which enables the possibility of running ads, but doesn’t require it.

Google says the new rules only apply to future content, not content that’s already been posted to YouTube. The purpose of the change, a spokesperson told BuzzFeed News via email, is to “curb abuse.” Asked what kind of end-link abuse Google is trying to curb, Google pointed to its community guidelines, which encourages users to follow “common-sense rules” and not post pornography, graphic violent content, hate speech, threats, copyright infringement, or content that encourage dangerous behavior. The idea is that, by requiring content creators to join the YouTube Partner Program, YouTube will have greater insight into what outside sites creators are linking to.

But some content creators are skeptical that curbing abuse is Google’s real reason for introducing the new requirement. In the past year, YouTube has taken steps to limit the kinds of content creators can monetize, a move which upset a number of users. That Google is now seizing more control over creators rubs some of them the wrong way.

“People hate YouTube,” said Victoria Rose, who runs gaming website Flying Courier, via DM. “YouTube’s been cutting off/restricting monetization, so people like something new to be mad at.”

As an alternative, content creators can still link to their Patreons (or their Etsy pages or Twitch sites or MySpace profiles) in their videos’ description boxes without becoming partners. They only have to join the program if they want to use the popular “end links” that pop up at the end of videos, and which content creators say are more effective. (Asked why end links are preferred to links in the description box, YouTuber Ian Danskin told BuzzFeed News via DM “Heh, because people actually click them.”)

What’s an end link?

YouTubers were so worked up about this change because end links help some YouTube content creators grow their fan bases and make a significant amount of money on crowdfunding sites like Patreon.

If content creators want to use these end links, however, they are now required to join the YouTube Partner Program and turn on monetization. Google says that creators can choose which ads to monetize and have the option of not running ads on any videos.

The new rules also have a small catch: YouTube content creators with fewer than 10,000 total views across their channels were banned from joining the partner program back in April. At the time, Google said it was restricting access to the program in order to prevent copycat channels from making money off of stolen content. But the new rule requiring creators to join the partner program if they want to use end links effectively means that creators with smaller viewerships can’t use the end links at all, because their channels are too small to be allowed in the partner program. It’s a catch-22 that could make it harder for small-timers to grow their audiences anywhere other than YouTube, which could benefit YouTube in the long run.

Quelle: <a href="Here’s Why Content Creators Got So Mad At YouTube Today“>BuzzFeed

The FCC Wants Apple To Activate The Hidden FM Radio In iPhones After Recent Disasters

iPhone 8 Plus

Mark Lennihan / AP

Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai urged Apple on Thursday to activate the hidden FM radio inside many of its iPhone models, framing the radio functionality as a matter of public safety in the wake of recent disasters that have plagued the US and Puerto Rico.

“It is time for Apple to step up to the plate and put the safety of the American people first,” Pai said in a statement. “Apple is the one major phone manufacturer that has resisted doing so. But I hope the company will reconsider its position, given the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.”

Samsung, LG, Motorola, and HTC all sell devices with functional FM radios, according to the radio streaming app Nextradio. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has also argued for enabling the FM radio chips present in many smartphones.

In his statement, Pai pointed to a Sept. 14 editorial in the Florida newspaper Sun Sentinel that argued for the same point: “Given our nation’s dependence on cell phones, the smartphone’s FM switch is a public safety issue.”

iPhone X

Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP

In response Thursday, Apple said in a statement that its newer models do not support the radio functionality.

“iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models do not have FM radio chips in them nor do they have antennas designed to support FM signals, so it is not possible to enable FM reception in these products,” an Apple spokesperson said.

Apple did not comment on devices that preceded the iPhone 7 and 8 or other models it continues to sell, including the iPhone SE. It's also unclear how easy such an undertaking would be for Apple, and neither side went into specifics about how the company would activate the FM chips.

“Apple cares deeply about the safety of our users, especially during times of crisis and that’s why we have engineered modern safety solutions into our products,” it continued. “Users can dial emergency services and access Medical ID card information directly from the Lock Screen, and we enable government emergency notifications, ranging from Weather Advisories to AMBER alerts.”

Apple may have kept the FM chip inside its iPhone models deactivated to aid its own music store and streaming service, but as the Sun Sentinel pointed out: “Our app and streaming addictions won’t disappear if we have the option of listening to FM radio. That’s why our earbuds are plugged into an iPhone, not a Walkman.”

The FCC chairman has advocated for the activation of the FM chip before. In his statement, he noted that his first public speech as chairman urged cell phone companies to enable the functionality.

John Paczkowski contributed to this report.

Quelle: <a href="The FCC Wants Apple To Activate The Hidden FM Radio In iPhones After Recent Disasters“>BuzzFeed

Twitter Tells Congress It Found 200 Russian Accounts That Overlapped With Facebook

BuzzFeed News / Getty Images

On Thursday morning, Twitter Vice President for Public Policy Colin Crowell met with the House and Senate Intelligence communities about the company's potential involvement with Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Among the information Crowell shared was that the company found around 200 accounts that seem to be linked to the same Russian groups that purchased roughly $100,000 of ads on Facebook to sway Americans and create divisions during the 2016 election. Twitter also revealed that of the 450 malicious accounts shared by Facebook, 22 had corresponding Twitter accounts. Many, Twitter, said, had already been shuttered by the network.

The company also shared information on the Russian television and media organization RT after the company was singled out by intelligence agencies for its ties to the Russian government. Twitter told the committees that three RT accounts spent $274,100 in US ads in targeted US markets in 2016. Twitter said that most of these accounts were “directed at followers of mainstream media and primarily promoted RT Tweets regarding news stories.”

While Twitter itself notes that there's plenty the company cannot share (due to security and potential exploits by bad actors), a few of the numbers released by the company detail the scale of the problem on Twitter (of which foreign bots are part of). Including:

- “On average, our automated systems catch more than 3.2 million suspicious accounts globally per week — more than double the amount we detected this time last year. “

- Twitter's automated tools “catch about 450,000 suspicious logins per day.”

- Twitter notes the prevalence of spam from single suspicious entities, noting that it stopped “more than 5.7 million spammy follows from a single source just last week (9/21/2017).”

- According to Twitter, since “June 2017, we’ve suspended more than 117,000 malicious applications for abusing our API, collectively responsible for more than 1.5 billion low-quality Tweets this year.”

The findings are just the first, small look at the platform's role in the 2016 campaign with regard to the potential spreading of propaganda and misinformation. And Twitter will likely be back in front of Congress soon. This week Recode reported that congress is expected to invite Google, Facebook, and Twitter to testify in an open session in October. Meanwhile, the Senate Intelligence Committee has extended an invitation to Facebook, Twitter, and Google to appear on November 1st.

Quelle: <a href="Twitter Tells Congress It Found 200 Russian Accounts That Overlapped With Facebook“>BuzzFeed