Dear FTC

Dear Federal Trade Commission and subsequent agencies:

My name is Anthony and I am a viewer of YouTube (youtube.com) (To be clear, I am NOT a video publisher and older than 18 years of age as a North Carolina and American Citizen. I am also a frequent voter.)

Recently, The Federal Trade Commission has (FTC) signed a prosecution deal with youtube.com (a google and alphabet company) to be stricter with youtube (with a 170 Million Dollar fine) about targeting videos for children (or at least kids have access to such videos.) Although law enforcement agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission does not think viewers do not notice; they and I do.

At this time, many content creators of youtube are “freaking out” about how to comply with COPPA and the FTC’s various rules with YouTube’s guidelines without attracting children let alone the attention of the FTC’s power to fine 42,000 dollars per video per creator that violates the terms. Such sums of money, the grayness of the law and artificial intelligence that can interoperate a video, and channel deletion.

Many content creators on youtube.com do NOT see the information collected from users (no matter the age), only youtube can see it. It can be argued in court of law, that content creators are NOT operators because content creators are not collecting the data that YouTube uses to suggest advertisements.

COPPA does not fully affect me as a viewer but it does interrupt the enjoyment that I receive as a viewer of the available content online. Especially when it is in joint concert of the executive branch of the United States and Google’s goals to make YouTube a primary broadcaster akin to Federal Communication Commission rules; and, YouTube is nothing more than a scheme to bilk and use the system to “enslave” by deception content creators for the profits of a few. Overall, many viewers abandoned or dropped cable/satellite or broadcasting of the television for the sake of the freedom that internet video viewing can provide. Regulations such as COPPA is equivalent to the censorship rules that viewers like me wanted to abandon because it constrained the creativity that television creators wanted to avoid.

Lastly, the FTC’s tactics are probably against the bill of rights. No matter the technology that allows communication to happen, the bill of rights (specifically the first amendment of the United States’ Constitution) that is not constrained to age of a person; therefore, when congress created COPPA did so in violation of the right to free exercise thereof and abridging the freedom of speech. Yes, COPPA violate the First Amendment because it forces the executive branch at advisory of Congress to abridge speech per the age of the audience. Thus, as a viewer of YouTube and other internet websites, I view COPPA’s enforcement measurement as per the Executive Branch as FTC actions to be a form of censorship that is not warranted even if it is though public or private contract intimidation.  

A subsequent solution to all of this is to redefine or reengineer the process of collecting user data. Part of government’s job is to help those become compliant, not just be police. YouTube (and google) have an effort to place as well as the executive branch and its subsequent parts of the United States’ government. It is therefore advisable, as an American Citizen, for the Executive branch of the United States to help YouTube (in legal capacity) design a system to separate the information gathering process of its users into two bins. One bin is compliant of COPPA and the other bin is COPPA incompliant but destroyed so the data can be and is compliant (or any other process that helps YouTube be compliant without affecting the creativity of Content Creators.) [In other words, COPPA’s enforcement is a way to create censorship by filtering the messenger’s meaning that a website and its content can represent. Viewers of such content are therefore infringed upon by not being able to see what the creator was trying to communicate and is therefore government abridging the freedom of such speech.] Part of such process, is that email can and should be used to be acceptable to the FTC as compliance for any internet actor as akin to facsimile that COPPA wants for parental notification and consent. Finally, individual channels on YouTube may have to file lawsuits for injunctions of FTC and COPPA law for review the channel to state that the intent of the channel is NOT for children and is for the appropriate age range that COPPA allows the collection of individual internet user’s information.

I should disclaim that I understand what law enforcement is truly trying to do: enforce the law AND stop people who prey on children (and subsequent families.) As per COPPA and the court of law, that COPPA’s goals are acceptable to me, it is the way and leadership that the FTC and businesses that COPPA affects in a negative way. Because of this negative effect, I do see this as another factor that can cause a recession of utility of users (creators or viewers) of YouTube AND such effects can contribute to the negative effects of current demographics many investors use for investing into the American economy (both YouTube’s advertisers AND the broader economy that can affect gross domestic product.) Also, this will place a strain on the American judicial system as it is expected that the FTC and justice department will prosecute violators and have cases eventually heard in trial, appellate, and maybe the supreme court of the United States.

Overall, the FTC should tone down the enforcement of COPPA or face multiple lawsuits (or class action lawsuits) for injunctions due to channel classification that is NOT targeting children; FTC and the Executive Branch should be helping firms or website developers find solutions to be compliant instead of punitive fines, a justification to effectively censor, or both.

This letter was also forwarded to my House Representative and both of my Senators.

Citizen and resident of 27616 (Raleigh, North Carolina.)

Comment tracking number: 1k3-9dj7-22zm