One of the things I did Saturday, after I mostly stopped feeling shitty, was go through my YouTube subscriptions and unsubscribe from every single one that might be “child-attractive”. Chances are, thanks to the FTC and them dropping their giant frigging COPPA-hammer, most of those channels are either going away entirely or (as some have announced) making certain videos for Patreons only so they can get around the rules somehow. I can’t afford to support every doll artist I watch, so I unsubscribed. I hate having to do that but I feel like I’ve got no choice. It’s either that or let the FTC assume that just because I watch channels where female (or, female-ish anyway, in the case of Hextian who is one of my absolute favorite genderbending drag queen queer dudes EVER) creators are using base dolls like Ever After High, etc (which are from a kids’ series) to create entirely new art dolls. It’s no different than taking a plain piece of ceramic sculpture and painting it and making it something entirely new. Just on a much more difficult level, since there’s often spray sealant (gotta love that MSC!), different types of clay, scissors, saws, wire, epoxy resins..all kinds of artsy fartsy shit that is used to transform these dolls from plain, mass-produced boring pieces of crap into works of collectable art. And none of that is for kids..not even remotely.
But because it’s deemed “child-attractive” or “child-appealing” due to bright colors, peppy music, what the fuck ever…they’re getting slapped with the COPPA hammer upside the head and I’ve watched more than one video that says even if you mark all your stuff “NOT FOR KIDS EVER!” and the algorithm determines “This is kiddie content.”, you can get slapped with a $42,000 fine. FORTY TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS.
PER VIDEO.
Some creators have been around for years and if they get slapped with a fine for every video, that’s a lot of money. It’s bad enough that they’re being forced to mark their work as “for kids”, which causes them to lose ads and revenue as well as interaction with their fanbase/audience.
So Mozekyto, DollMotion, The Doll Fairy, Hextian…all my favorite doll creators…I’m sorry but you just lost a sub. Because I can’t stand to watch your channels go downhill as you try to scramble and save them from the government’s ridiculously oversized and hamfisted Hulk Smash of a reach.
