As a small content creator on YouTube with around 1,000 subscribers, it’s frustrating and disheartening to see the state of the platform today. Inappropriate ads, endless content farms pushing “slop” videos — it’s truly sad to watch. I know I’m not the first to speak out about this, but I hope I won’t be the last to take an actual step against it. This petition calls on YouTube to take real, well-thought-out action to protect children and stop harmful content from slipping through the cracks. Here’s why.

The ads. If you’ve scrolled through YouTube Shorts recently, you’ve probably seen them: “AI assistants with no boundaries,” promoted with sexualized, AI-generated images of nearly unclothed women. These ads target users at random — including children. Just imagine a kid scrolling through Shorts and stumbling across one of these ads. It’s disturbing, and it shouldn’t be happening. YouTube needs to take this seriously and prevent invasive, sexualized ads from appearing where children can see them.

Blaming the wrong people. Instead of addressing the ads themselves, YouTube often punishes the creators who speak out about them. Videos that highlight these issues are age-restricted or suppressed, while the harmful ads remain online, sometimes with nothing more than a warning label. That’s backwards. Creators who warn their audiences about dangerous or inappropriate content shouldn’t be penalized while the real problem is ignored.

The AI Age Verification system. On August 13, 2025, YouTube rolled out an “AI-based” age verification tool. The system guesses your age based on your watch history, and if it flags you as “too young,” you’re locked out of features unless you provide a government ID or a photo selfie. This creates serious problems. AI is unreliable — a teenager who “looks young” could easily be flagged incorrectly — and requiring government ID or biometric data is a huge privacy risk. This update doesn’t solve the real issues (like harmful ads) and instead makes YouTube harder and less safe for regular users.

The slop content problem. YouTube is flooded with low-effort, repetitive content farms that prioritize quick clicks and cash over quality. These brainrot-style videos drown out creators who put real care into their work, and the algorithm rewards them. It’s a system that prizes quantity over quality — and it’s hurting the platform.

As a small creator, this is heartbreaking. I make content because I love creating and sharing, but most of my videos barely break 100 views. With harmful ads, unfair restrictions, invasive updates, and content farms dominating recommendations, YouTube is crushing smaller creators while failing to protect viewers — especially kids.

This petition asks YouTube to do three things:

1) Stop serving sexualized AI-generated ads and harmful videos to children.

2) Rollback the harmful AI Age Verification update, which risks user privacy while doing little to address the real problems.

3) Stop prioritizing content farms and instead support creators who put genuine effort and quality into their work.

If you agree, please sign and share this petition. It’s time to take a stand against YouTube’s harmful decisions — for the sake of viewers, children, and creators alike.