I am putting this petition forward in the hope that something can change with regards to this issue which has been causing me some distress. I have noticed there are several Youtube channels where young girls, well below the age of eighteen, are posting videos of themselves trying on bikinis. 

I made several attempts to report the videos, and I have documentary evidence of myself doing so, in the hope that they can be removed to protect these children. Youtube have failed to address my concerns in any way. I have not received any word from them whatsoever. I have sent calm and calculated reports, giving timestamps of the infringing content to no avail.

One video featured a young girl trying on bikinis in the presence of her mother who used the term “fetish” to describe her daughters infatuation with bikinis. 

"Many of these justifications are made in the guise of feminism, body positivity, and the openness to talk about one’s sexuality. But as many people pointed out, minors who post explicit photos are sharing child pornography and encouraging its spread. They are also putting themselves at risk of being exploited, groomed, and/or targeted by predators."

Source: https://preen.ph/102268/the-dangers-of-allowing-minors-to-make-sexy-posts

Even if these videos are not intended in a sexual manner, the simple search term “Bikini Try on Haul” brings up links to explicit sex videos, bundled in with images of these same young girls.

Youtube is violating its own terms by having porn accessible from the platform. 

The Youtube about statement also claims that it supports social advocacy and providing a platform for people to advocate for causes they believe in. I tried to contact Youtube about this anonymously to see if it could be discussed civilly and objectively, only to hit a brick wall.

One such channel had 7.91 subscribers when I started monitoring the situation. I reported the video for rules infringement, and instead of receiving a response or acknowledgement of my concerns the video remained, and in a two week period the said number of "subscribers" jumped to 10.1k.

Where should young girls be wearing swim clothes? At the beach, or at a swimming pool in broad daylight surrounded by their friends and/or families who shield them from predators. Where should young girls be discussing and trying on such items of clothing? In the privacy of their homes with friends around the same age group.

Just because Youtube is a huge corporation which makes billions should not make it exempt from basic ethos of common sense and decency.

I wish to petition Youtube to implement a more stringent child protection system, so that people can use the platform withought inadvertently endorsing child grooming.

I personally enjoy using youtube. I use it for movies, music, research and the like. I also have enough pride and self respect to call out the elephant in the room and make decisions about where I bring my business. The internet has become enough of a haven for harmful content without the commonly used applications being thrown into that mix as well.

Unicef defines a Child Protection System as follows:

the set of laws, policies, regulations and services needed across all social sectors – especially social welfare, education, health, security and justice – to support prevention and response to protection-related risks. These systems are part of social protection, and extend beyond it. At the level of prevention, their aim includes supporting and strengthening families to reduce social exclusion, and to lower the risk of separation, violence and exploitation. Responsibilities are often spread across government agencies, with services delivered by local authorities, non-State providers, and community groups, making coordination between sectors and levels, including routine referral systems etc.