Final Ethics Blog

One important part of this chapter is, as the authors put it, vulnerable audiences. I have seen the possible effects of this most obviously on YouTube, which seems to be my most discussed subject but that’s beside the point. YouTube’s content creators have an ethical responsibility to ensure that their endorsements are transparent and obvious if they were paid for. It used to be far worse, when YouTube was more free creators could subtly include the product without explicitly stating they were paid for. This is dodgy at best, because they may not even support the product which makes their work disingenuous. Nowadays, YouTube has cracked down on that by requiring a label on screen and other obvious indicators that the video is sponsored. Vulnerable audiences, such as children, are more likely to be unable to distinguish genuine support for a product versus paid product placement in videos. Ethically, I think that the required notice that a segment or video is sponsored is a great idea, as it makes it abundantly clear that the video is an advertisement or at least a part of it is.

Furthermore, there are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of channels dedicated to mind-numbing children’s content. Simple songs, educational material, etc. They get millions of views, and if you aren’t regularly watching their content or seeking it out you may not have ever seen that side of YouTube. If that fails to be regulated, it could be ridiculously easy to slip in product endorsements or placement and effectively manipulate children to make the sale. Unfortunately, the internet is less regulated than mediums like television and journalism. I’ve seen firsthand as creators that make videos specifically for children on YouTube unsubtly slip in ads or product placements. Specifically, I remember a while ago a group of video game YouTubers ran a gambling site for in-game items but failed to disclose they were the owners. They ended up being found out and were in a lot of trouble, but that is just one example of what could be out there. It is up to both the advertiser and the creators to ensure they ethically treat the consumer fairly and make it obvious when they are advertising.