
Suicide instructions spliced into kids’ cartoons on YouTube and YouTube Kids - MrMember
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/02/youtube-kids-cartoons-include-tips-for-committing-suicide-docs-warn/
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ordinaryradical
I want to know who is behind this content. Part of me thinks that a site with
such open access is easily susceptible to this kind of sabotage from
competitors, but getting this kind of dirt on your hands would be company-
ending if it got back to you.

The question is: why do people do this? Some of these channels aren't small so
it can't be only some kids on 4chan having a laugh; some are giant content
farms that seem to be managed as a coordinated, money-making business.

See also: Elsagate.

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microdrum
The man in the video goes by the name Filthy Frank. Here is at least one other
video of him:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnlyr46WbRA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnlyr46WbRA)

~~~
defertoreptar
Sounds like ordinaryradical is asking who is the one splicing in these kind of
clips into the kid's video.

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ChrisGranger
What has gone wrong in the mind of an adult who thinks it's funny to teach
children how to commit suicide? I can't even wrap my head around this...

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ehserhtewrg
They aren't.

“Remember, kids, sideways for attention, longways for results,”

It's a joke.

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ChrisGranger
It was a joke when Filthy Frank said it, but someone edited that clip into a
video for children. There's nothing funny about that, at all.

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ilovetux
I've never liked advertising companies and have noticed a downward trend in
the moral implications of different advertising business models.

The least creepy IMO is when you would see a television or radio host cut away
to promote a product which directly tied the content creator to the promotion.

Later that became less common and advertisers approached content aggregators
like Television networks who maintained a carefully curated collection of
content this wasn't too bad.

The current trend of advertising companies selling ads on non-curated, user
generated content seems to have crossed a line where major problems are just
inherent. I think a better arrangement would be if Google and Facebook allowed
content creators and advertisers to directly connect thereby allowing each to
choose what sort of brands match their particular image.

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ariwilson
If only there was a program with YouTube where you could advertise against
preferred content...

[https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/products/google-
preferred/](https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/products/google-preferred/)

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ilovetux
That's kind of half-way there, but there doesn't seem to be a way for
advertisers to actually choose specific channels to maximize brand-fit just
packages of channels deemed "brand safe" which is a very generic term.

Also there is no direct connection between content creators and advertisers
allowing both parties to safeguard their respective images.

Edit: Typo

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tyingq
Not quite as overt as "longways for results", but the cartoons I watched as a
kid had plenty of suicidal references:
[https://youtu.be/PFDKWbg2xjg](https://youtu.be/PFDKWbg2xjg)

~~~
jbrooksuk
It’s interesting to me that the majority of those suicides are by gun. Only
one is a hanging which fails, two jump and another is implied on the train
lines.

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fzeroracer
It's incredibly hard for me to wrap my mind around the who and why of this.

It's obvious whatever efforts they're taking to curate YouTube for kids is not
enough if bad actors can slip in such horrifying content into videos.

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simion314
Maybe whitelisting channels for youtube kids is the only solution.

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garduque
In my house there is no free access to YouTube for children. I wouldn't even
whitelist a channel, because maybe somebody buys that channel and makes it
weird. Maybe if I run across a video that I think is good we will watch it
together, but there is no chance they get to click down the "recommended"
rabbit hole unattended.

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gscott
Teaching kids to be paranoid of everything isn't good either. If your child is
too innocent they won't know the difference when someone ask them to do
something that is wrong. Far before they're the age of 18 they need to be able
to fend for themselves unless if you plan to keep your child under your wing
forever.

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iforgotpassword
I know a couple people who let their 4+ yo kids use smartphones and tablets
with apps like YouTube kids. I can't wrap my head around it. If there'd be
anything exclusively on YouTube I'd want kids to watch I'd probably download
it first, check all the footage in its entirety and only then let them watch
it, on the TV, not some small screen they hold right into their faces.

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beart
Parents who have both the time and energy to do that probably aren't going to
watch YouTube anyway.

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iforgotpassword
I dont think so; it's a one time investment for clips your kids might watch
dozens of times. Sure, it's not feasable for following a channel that uploads
daily, but let's say there's a bunch of children's songs with animation you
consider well done. Spend an afternoon ripping them and have them watch it
every now and then over the next year.

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HNLurker2
I laughed when I saw George muller (the guy behind filthy frank an awful
channel about suicide, offensive jokes and dark humor). Quick run down he did
in 2016-2017 free green screen and slowly after became a meme and put in
videos. The guy now does music known as "joji".

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jgamman
Netflix at $10 a month seems like a bargain. Binge watching dragons' edge
isn't great but at least you know it's _just_ dragon's edge...

fuGoogle.

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shostack
Disney+ looks like it will be interesting.

[https://www.techradar.com/news/disney-streaming-service-
disn...](https://www.techradar.com/news/disney-streaming-service-disneys-all-
inclusive-streaming-package-explained)

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who-knows95
don't think you can blame joji for this? someone else using his old
satire/edge videos in this way.

but, i kinda wish they would public say who/what channel it was from. so we
can look into it.

i mean, i know Youtube has a huge issue with these wacked out game model
"animated" kid videos.

