YouTube—YouTube failed to prevent 'Elsagate' child exploitation content reaching millions of children
In 2017, YouTube faced a major scandal known as 'Elsagate' where disturbing content disguised as children's videos—featuring violent, sexual, and abusive themes with popular children's characters—accumulated tens of millions of views. YouTube's content moderation systems failed to detect these videos, which were tagged to circumvent safety algorithms. YouTube Kids was also affected, with the platform later admitting its electronic moderation system was defunct. YouTube eventually removed over 150,000 videos, terminated 50+ channels, and disabled 625,000+ comment sections.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Child Safety | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Content Moderation | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.572 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.57)× agency (negligent ×0.5)
Evidence (1 signal)
YouTube removed 150,000+ videos and 50+ channels in Elsagate child exploitation crackdown
After months of public pressure over 'Elsagate' disturbing content targeting children, YouTube announced mass removal of exploitative content in November 2017, including over 150,000 videos, termination of 50+ channels, and disabling of 625,000+ comment sections with suspected predatory activity. YouTube VP Johanna Wright said they 'expanded enforcement guidelines around removing content featuring minors that may be endangering a child.'