--- title: "YouTube Marked Horror Video as “For Kids,” Wouldn’t Let Creator Reverse It" description: "YouTube is once again screwing up its content moderation after designating a horror video as \"for kids\" and not allowing the creator to change the rating." date: "2022-07-07" modified: "2022-07-07" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/youtube-horror-kids" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "content moderation" - "horror" - "Kids" - "the digest" - "YouTube" --- # YouTube Marked Horror Video as “For Kids,” Wouldn’t Let Creator Reverse It ![YouTube is once again screwing up its content moderation after designating a horror video as "for kids" and not allowing the creator to change the rating.]() *\Image: @LOCAL58TV\* ## Horror Struck YouTube is once again screwing up its children's programming after designating a found footage horror video as "for kids" and not allowing the creator to change the erroneous rating manually. The issue apparently began over the holiday weekend, when, as [YouTuber Kris Straub tweeted](), the social network sent him an email informing him that it had auto-designated a video from his horror channel, Local58TV, as being a "show for children." As Straub noted, this bizarre change came "despite my having set it as inappropriate for kids," and he added that he couldn't "change it voluntarily" without an appeal, which he then filed. ## 18+ Local58TV is, as its creator maintains, decidedly *not* for children, though as [*Ars Technica* noted in its write-up]() of the since-reversed decision, the company's AI moderators may have gotten their wires crossed because there is an episode called "Show For Children." In spite of the title, it takes just a couple of seconds of watching the eerie episode to see that the title is tongue-in-cheek. It features a cartoon skeleton walking around a graveyard looking for love, only to encounter a number of much creepier monsters before laying down to "die" and become one of them. ## Reversal A couple days after Straub tweeted about the erroneous designation, and a day after *Ars* wrote about it, YouTube finally reversed the "for kids" designation. As the [channel's creator noted](), however, account owners should always be able to designate their videos as not for children. It also [doesn't appear that YouTube has explained]() why the video's designation was switched to "made for kids" in the first place. Given the major issues that YouTube has had with people [labeling extremely-sketchy content as being children's programming](), it's especially bizarre that the company wouldn't allow someone to change their own rating to being not for kids. At the end of the day, it's just the kind of thing that happens when you [employ AIs to moderate your content](). **READ MORE:** [YouTube flags horror video as “for kids,” won’t let creator change rating]() \[*Ars Technica*\] **More YouTube shenanigans:** [*YouTube Channel That Hunts Scammers Falls For Scam, Deletes Itself*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()