The Hidden Dangers of Roast Videos: A Call for Action
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In a rural area of Nepal, a nine-year-old boy named Sachin Pariyar comes from a financially disadvantaged background. He had to leave school in the second grade due to his family's inability to afford his education. Despite these hardships, Sachin possesses a remarkable sense of humor and a talent for singing, making him both entertaining and endearing.
A YouTube channel recognized Sachin's talent and provided financial assistance to his family, helping to showcase his abilities on social media. This led to nationwide attention and a rapid rise in popularity. Major media outlets, including national television, began promoting him, while a nonprofit organization in Kathmandu took him under its wing, enrolling him in a boarding school where he could resume his education. For Sachin and his family, YouTube has been a source of both opportunity and growth.
> “Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.” — John F. Kennedy
Unfortunately, some opportunistic creators have exploited this situation. They edited Sachin's videos to create roast content, mocking him through a fabricated interview that served only to ridicule his earlier performances. Essentially, these videos amount to bullying.
One such creator, Zalan, who boasts over 450,000 followers, utilizes clips from various YouTube channels to craft roast videos. On January 5, 2021, he turned Sachin's innocence into a source of humor, aiming to generate revenue while delighting his viewers with his editing skills.
> Entertainment at the expense of an innocent child?
This particular roast video quickly went viral, despite having no place on social media. It's disheartening to witness the apathy surrounding child safety among viewers.
Zalan's video has amassed 1.5 million views, and its title, written in Romanized Nepali, contains abusive language towards children, translating to “Naive Kid vs. Bastard Kid.” While the term "bastard" is slang and doesn't literally mean “bastard,” it carries negative connotations. The creator pieced together clips of embarrassing questions and answers to form a single interview, using personal inquiries that were far from pleasant. He has no right to use such derogatory terms in reference to any child.
YouTube has yet to remove this video, and it remains uncertain if they will ever consider doing so. Both the creators and YouTube are profiting from the exploitation of a child's innocence, while viewers in Nepal may continue to encounter such harmful content.
When users upload videos to YouTube, they must confirm compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Regrettably, the questions posed by YouTube (as seen below) offer little in terms of protecting children from online harassment. Zalan's video was not made for children, thus no restrictions on monetization apply. YouTube has failed to ensure that the creator obtained consent from Sachin's parents.
To evaluate whether such videos should remain on public platforms, two fundamental questions arise:
- Does this video violate COPPA or any other laws?
- Regardless of the first question's answer, is this video ethical?
The Federal Trade Commission outlines COPPA's implications for YouTube content creation. According to the policy, the presence of child celebrities or content appealing to children indicates that the material is directed at minors. This means no one can upload videos featuring a child without obtaining the guardian's consent. Clearly, this video violates COPPA and other laws. Furthermore, due to its abusive language directed at a child, it is inherently unethical.
The roast video involving Sachin is not only an unauthorized copy but also an unethical representation intended to tarnish a child's reputation for actions he never committed and words he never uttered.
The issue of roast videos did not end with Zalan; numerous other videos have emerged in response to his content, with some achieving significant viewership. These creators profit by exploiting children, often without uttering a single word of concern. It is disheartening to see how easily monetization is attained on YouTube.
Is COPPA Only Relevant in Europe and America?
No, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act applies beyond Europe and America. As indicated by YouTube (refer to the screenshot above), creators must adhere to the law regardless of their location. However, YouTubers from Asia and Africa often neglect this policy. A lack of online awareness results in the continuous presence of children from Nepal in YouTube videos.
> “It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
The ease of sharing images and videos of children persists as YouTube and other social media giants remain silent about repeated content policy violations outside of America and Europe. In 2019, Google and YouTube faced a $170 million penalty for violating COPPA. It is disheartening to think that no one is there to remind them of their global negligence. YouTube operates in 100 countries but has local offices in only six, none located in Asia or Africa. This limitation hinders their understanding of the social needs of the regions in which they operate.
Roast Videos Targeting the LGBTQ Community Are on the Rise
Sachin's situation is just one example. YouTubers have not spared the LGBTQ community either. James Shrestha, a YouTuber and gamer, publicly berated Nikisha Shrestha for her dance performances while dressed as a transgender individual.
Nikisha was assigned male at birth and named Nikesh. She later changed her name to Nikisha and embraced her identity as a woman. Unfortunately, this transition led to harassment, resulting in her dropping out of school. Using TikTok, she showcased her dance talent, attracting over 400,000 followers, but she also faced relentless trolling and abuse.
James publicly questioned Nikisha's gender identity, mocking her TikTok dance videos and mannerisms. He and his associate, Narayan Solti, discussed Nikisha as if she were their personal object of ridicule. While some viewers found this content entertaining, many others were deeply offended. Though a few raised concerns on Twitter, it was insufficient to capture YouTube's attention.
The harassment toward Nikisha continued unabated. With YouTube's inaction regarding James or any of the bullying videos, multiple channels created roast content targeting her. It became a lucrative way for creators to gain views and income, exploiting the vulnerability of those involved.
YouTubers persisted in their bullying of Nikisha over her appearance. In an extreme case, three teenagers physically assaulted her in the street, recording their harassment and posting it online. The video gained traction, leading to the arrest of the teenagers by Nepalese police for investigation, yet no action was taken against any other online abusers.
Social media should serve as a platform to protect individuals from harassment rather than promote hate against the transgender community. YouTube has profited from the emotional turmoil inflicted on Nikisha, and it shows no signs of stopping.
The "Your Bride Is My Girlfriend" Prank
A few years ago in Nepal, as YouTube monetization gained traction, creators began staging pranks that invaded personal lives. One viral video featured a teenager crashing a wedding and claiming, “Your bride is my girlfriend.” While the girl protested that she had no connection to him, he insisted, “She dated me for years, we spent wonderful moments, but now she’s lying.” In Nepali culture, having a boyfriend before marriage is often stigmatized; such a claim could easily disrupt a wedding or tarnish a marriage. The girl was left in tears until the boy finally revealed it was a prank.
This original video was removed from YouTube after being online for over a year and accumulating hundreds of thousands of views. However, copies of the video persist on the platform. Such content encourages others to produce similar videos, inflicting emotional distress on families in the name of entertainment and YouTube monetization. Even now, prank videos continue to circulate, including a particularly popular one uploaded in December 2020.
Nepal is Just One Case Study
Nepal serves as just one example of a broader issue. We cannot ascertain how many South Asian or African nations face similar challenges. YouTubers often target marginalized, oppressed, and voiceless communities with their content. These videos gain traction because many viewers perceive roast and prank videos as humorous, failing to recognize that no one deserves such treatment. For creators, this is a straightforward method to generate revenue, while YouTube maintains its business, ignoring the essence of its mission.
> “We promote the rights and wellbeing of every child in everything we do.” — Motto of UNICEF
Should We Tolerate Such Creators?
None of us want our videos misappropriated. None of us wish for our children’s videos to be roasted for the amusement of strangers. Sachin is a child still learning the difference between right and wrong. Nikisha is a person searching for her identity and place in the world. Why should their videos be exploited for unethical purposes?
Justice for Sachin Pariyar, Nikisha Shrestha, and others who have been harassed could serve as a glimmer of hope. If YouTube were to delete these bullying videos, it would send a powerful message to creators who believe that roasting someone is a shortcut to success. A temporary suspension of accounts could serve as a lesson to the entire nation. But the question remains: will YouTube take such measures? Will these creators ever face consequences?
There Must Be an Endpoint
Had this situation occurred in any European or American country, YouTube would likely have faced severe penalties for ignoring such issues, swiftly removing offending videos or restricting problematic accounts. Regrettably, this does not happen when individuals from Nepal or other developing nations seek justice on social media. There must be a conclusion. There must be a cessation of harassment and roasting that undermines an individual’s dignity for the sake of business.
Stock photo and video platforms require consent forms for every recognizable individual featured; YouTube has yet to implement such a strategy, despite being a leading tech company. If it cannot enforce this across all videos, it should at least mandate consent forms to protect children's online privacy.
YouTube has become a lucrative platform, and there is a noticeable increase in content creators from South Asia. Creators can produce content that often violates community guidelines. With weak privacy laws in the region and a lack of public awareness, we need YouTube to prioritize the protection of our children and marginalized communities more than ever. Unfortunately, this does not appear to be forthcoming. Even if it does come to Europe and America, it remains uncertain when it will extend to the children of Asia and Africa. There must be an end.
At this moment, when we assert, “We promote the rights and wellbeing of every child (and women and LGBTQ), in everything we do,” I urge everyone to reflect: Are we truly advocating for the rights of every child?