Well, at least they didn’t also splice in the theme to M*A*S*H.
According to reports, a griefer on YouTube spliced video of himself giving instructions on how to commit suicide into animated children’s videos. Typically, said videos would run like normal for several minutes, before they would cut to video of the man saying, “Kids, remember, cut this way for attention, and this way for results”. Despite numerous reports by users, the videos stayed online for months. It wasn’t until a concerted effort by the Pedimom* community that the videos were eventually taken down.
*A group of pediatricians that are mothers, led by Free N. Hess; the community name is not great, guys.
One account of the videos comes from a member of the community who was watching videos with her son while waiting for a nosebleed to clear up:
Today I was actually grateful for my son’s nosebleed.
We were sitting on the floor of the bathroom, watching YouTube Kids to distract him from the bleed, when I saw it.
It was a simple, innocent cartoon – until it happened.
Four minutes and forty-five seconds into the video, a man quickly walked onto the screen, held his arm out, and taught the children watching this video how to properly kill themselves. What did I just see? Did I really just see that? I immediately turned off the video. My son’s nose stopped bleeding, and I further investigated the video in private while he went to play. I watched it again, certain that I had dreamt it up. I know YouTube had some sick videos, but I thought YouTube Kids was safe. They sure make it seem like it is.
But – no. There it was again. Four minutes and forty-five seconds into the video. The man quickly walked in, held his arm out, and tracing his forearm, said, “Kids, remember, cut this way for attention, and this way for results,” and then quickly walked off.
The Pedimom community did, in fact, keep proof that the video was once up. And that video of a video pretty much tells me everything I need to know.
Why yes, that is TV’s Filthy Frank, who made a number of edgy videos under the persona before ending the series and going on to make some pretty damn good music. Specifically, it’s part of a set of green screen videos he once made to be laid over a variety of content, in the forum weapon tradition. Which tells me that these videos are being uploaded by some edgelord that thinks they’re being funny, and was probably hoping for just this reaction.
This is, however, just a continuation of the problems plaguing YouTube Kids. If it’s not trolls, it’s wildly inappropriate content to begin with, and everything in between. I wonder when people are collectively going to realize that YouTube is an even worse babysitter than TV?
Source: BoingBoing
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