Demonetizing/temporary demonetization isn't enough.In 2017, in one of the most disturbing situations to come from YouTube at the time, YouTuber Damon Fizzy, otherwise known as DeeFizzy, came out with proof he had from minor fans who had contacted him about large YouTuber/singer Austin Jones soliciting them in Twitter DMs to twerk. He also spoke at length about this here. This turned out to be the tip of the iceberg, and he was eventually arrested for child pornography and became a convicted sex offender, being convicted in 2019. His YouTube channel was deleted.In as early as 2016, disturbing allegations started coming out about YouTuber Gregory James Daniel, aka James Jackson, otherwise known as Onision. These allegations involved him inappropriately chatting with minor fans online, grooming them and eventually luring them to his real life residence to do sexually explicit things with them, causing a lot of trauma in their lives, among other horrific allegations. Multiple people came out about this. His partner is a former fan. He still has a YouTube channel to this day despite multiple instances of legal action taken against him and a (rather badly done but I digress) documentary about these allegations on Discovery+.In 2019, YouTuber Tati Westbrook uploaded her video entitled "Bye, Sister", in which she details allegations of popular YouTuber/makeup influencer James Charles sexting and luring straight individuals to be in a relationship with him. Shortly afterwards, allegations began pouring out of James texting and interacting with minors on Tik Tok and other platforms. He was allowed to upload an apology video followed by a 'debunking' video and still has a channel to this day.Multiple people since 2019 have come out with stories or proof of James Charles texting, sexting, or engaging with either minors or straight male individuals to coerce them into dating him.In 2020, for the 3rd time, popular YouTuber Shane Lee Yaw, otherwise known as Shane Dawson, was "outted" for pedophilic jokes and racist, problematic, and animal abusive content he made on YouTube over the course of his YouTube career. Such content included a disturbing puppet show aimed at providing sexual content to minor viewers, him publicly posting videos of both him and his mother getting fans to twerk for him on Omegle, a video of him sexualizing a then minor Willow Smith, books that he wrote that he was able to make *because of his YouTube success* that contained a multitude of pedophilic and racist jokes and excerpts, a film he was able to make *because of his YouTube success* that he marketed towards his young minor fanbase that was also littered with misogynistic and racist jokes and content, and so much more. Shane released an "apology" video, was demonetized for a bit, and then monetization was quietly added back to his channels. He still has multiple YouTube channels (but is active on one only) to this day.Multiple people since 2020 have come out with stories or proof of Shane Dawson's horrific actions with his minor fanbase, many of which were publicly taken from/were documented on his YouTube channels and also were monetized, which at the time of his actions taking place, gave him financial incentive to continue, and a large platform that gave him unprecedented access to minors. The allegations are being backed up by screenshotted and/or video evidence and there are countless documentaries made by other commentary creators on YouTube detailing these actions. One such YouTube audience member detailed how the person that sexually abused them IRL introduced them to Shane's content and used it to normalize sexualizing children. And there are rumblings of Shane having IRL survivors of abuse from him. Documentary from Azria the Amazon detailing *some of* the allegationsAlso in 2020, Adam McIntyre uploaded his video entitled "Colleen Ballinger, Stop Lying", in which he detailed the disturbing truth of 30-something-year-old popular YouTuber Colleen Ballinger, most notable for her character (who also has a YouTube channel) Miranda Sings, sending LINGERIE to a minor fan, and around that time, Colleen released an "apology" video, and everything was swept under the rug. In 2023, KodeeRants uploaded their "Why I Left the Colleen Ballinger fandom" video, which detailed disturbing allegations complete with proof that Colleen was actively in group chats with her minor fans and speaking about sexually explicit topics, details about her then marriage to her former husband, and more with them, and since that video, more has come out from Adam McIntyre, Johnny Silvestri (her former tour assistant, who also turned out to be a predator himself, Becky (former fan), Soph (former fan), and more, including allegations that she sent pornographic content to a fan who was a minor at the time, which is illegal. Since that video, not only have allegations came out about her inappropriate (and possibly criminal) conduct with fans, but also pedophilic jokes and racist, problematic, and animal abusive content she made on YouTube over the course of her YouTube career. Such content included her character, Miranda Sings, having a disturbing borderline pedophilic relationship with her "uncle", a disturbing sketch show starring her and her best friend Kory Desoto aimed at providing sexual innuendos to minor viewers, and racial stereotypes, all under the guise of "comedy".In 2023, a Twitter user by the name of Oliver came out with his story about how Colleen Ballinger's brother Trent Ballinger manipulated him and talked to him sexually in DMs while he was a minor (and identifying as a different gender at the time) and a fan of Colleen's, and how said brother found him through being a part of Colleen's fanbase.Multiple people since 2020 have come out with allegations or proof of Colleen Ballinger's horrific actions with her minor fanbase, many of which were publicly taken from/were documented on her YouTube channels and also were monetized, which at the time of her actions taking place, gave her financial incentive to continue, and a large platform that gave her and her brother unprecedented access to minors. The allegations are being backed up by screenshotted and/or video evidence, and there are countless documentaries made by other commentary creators on YouTube detailing these actions. One such YouTube audience member detailed how the person that abused them IRL would use Colleen's Miranda Sings content to normalize sexualizing children and normalize the abuse taking place. To give you an idea of just how dangerous this is, Colleen's Miranda Sings content, which is chocked full of inappropriate, pedophilic, and sexual innuendos, can be found on the YouTube Kids app, right now. SWOOP documentary on the allegationsYou may notice that the paragraphs starting with "Multiple people since..." are worded almost exactly the same: that's because the situations are basically exactly the same. Let that sink in.And what does everything I mentioned in this petition so far have in common other than each and every single creator mentioned here (aside from Austin Jones, as far as I know) engaging in racist activity? YouTube. Every single one of these creators had and still have a large platform on YouTube and despite their content being disturbing, inappropriate, and quite frankly dangerous for minors, YouTube proceeded to mostly celebrate them, only one person on this list had their channel deleted and only as a result of serious legal action taken against them. These creators got invited to YouTube events (such as YouTube Rewind), got awards for their content, and most importantly, during the height of their popularity and the height of their content production, were given monetization, actual financial incentive by the platform hosting their videos, to continue making their content. Even if no one came out with allegations back when videos were being made, it was obvious that their content was dangerous to the children that were watching them, and their platform on YouTube gave them a vehicle to abuse and manipulate their fanbases full of mostly minors. And this is not just a problem with creators this big, it is widespread on YouTube, with more creators with audiences of all sizes (containing people of all ages) being called out and having allegations against them regarding grooming, pedophilia, and inappropriate behaviors/relationships with their fanbases or members of their fanbases. And because YouTube hasn't done anything to them, they feel they can continue their influence and jump to other platforms (such as Tik Tok) to continue to groom and abuse their fanbases.It is time. It has been time. It is time for YouTube to finally take a stand for their audience members to protect them and their safety and to ban predators on their platform. These creators include Colleen Ballinger, Shane Dawson, James Charles, and Onision, and MANY OTHERS. With creators like Colleen Ballinger, Shane Dawson, James Charles, Onision, and others still having channels (and podcasts/podcast channels they host on YouTube), making lighthearted "family", "makeup" and "conspiracy theory" videos and podcast episodes (among others), even if they don't have monetization outside of sponsors, minors can still access their content and they can still have power and influence over fans, both under the age of 18 and not, and this is dangerous. Here's a recent example: because James Charles was still allowed to have a platform on YouTube (and other social media websites), he has been able to go on to have a 'rehabilitation' campaign to save his image and promote his makeup brand so, yet again, his young followers can continue to be influenced by him. And this still puts him and keeps him in a position of power. This a power that has been clearly demonstrated these creators should not have.We the members of the YouTube audience space are asking for you, Neal Mohan, and for the whole of YouTube, to officially and permanently ban Shane Dawson, James Charles, Colleen Ballinger, and Onision from your platform, including a growing list of other predators that have channels on your platform, and to take this action and implement it as an official policy for any and all other channels alleged with actual evidence hereafter. This includes:1. Publicly and permanently never allowing them to create a new YouTube account ever again, such as through an ip address ban2. Archiving their past content to have for sending to law enforcement purposes but not making this archive public - which protects audiences but also prevents the predatory creators from deleting evidence, as original uploads contain their OG video descriptions, comments, and potential interactions between said creator and their fanbase *(For two examples, Onision already removed some original videos from his YouTube channel within the last few years. Colleen has been editing thumbnails and changing titles [that already included her own family members on them] for awhile now from past videos so they seem less predatory, to shield herself--not for the good of her audience, like this one, or this one, which got changed to this)and also most importantly3. DELETING EVERY SINGLE CHANNEL OF THESE CREATORS AND DELETING ANY AND ALL SOURCES OF REVENUE FOR THESE CREATORS THAT THEY MAKE OR CAN MAKE ON YOUTUBE so that they can no longer earn money from their videos, as money=resources for them to further manipulate, abuse, and maintain a power imbalance with their young fans.YouTube has tremendous power here. You are a power player. Other than Patreon, who banned Onision on November 27, 2019, and Twitch, who banned Zazef (a convicted child predator creator who had a YouTube channel that, by the way, IS STILL UP AND WATCHABLE ON THE PLATFORM TO THIS DAY!) no other social platform has followed suit on taking action against these dangerous creators. Shane Dawson still has an Instagram page. James Charles still has Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok pages. Colleen Ballinger still has Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok pages. Onision still has Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok pages. And all of these predatory actions that these creators made stemmed from them having a platform to make videos that intentionally towed the line so they could be geared towards "all ages" while simultaneously being chocked full of racist and sexual references and sexual innuendos. These videos led to these creators having a massive fanbase, massive popularity, and gave them a vehicle to take their disturbing content off of YouTube, and turn it into actual manipulation and abuse of minors. And it is clear that it is no longer enough to stop a creator from posting for a limited time, and it will not be enough to ban a creator from posting indefinitely but still keep their channel up, and demonetizing is not enough.YouTube, I reiterate: when it comes to taking action, you hold the power here. By banning these creators, you show the world that you care about the people that consume the content you host (and the content you make that features your platform's prominent creators) and you truly want them to be safe on your platform. Many people that come out with allegations can be afraid to take them to law enforcement and rightfully so. But that should not stop you from taking immediate action, given the fact that there is a mountain of evidence that has already been built and is continuing to be built against these creators. And, by banning these creators, other platforms may see your action and also do the right thing, following suit.It is time. Ban Shane Dawson, Ban Colleen Ballinger, Ban James Charles, Ban Onision, along with any and all other channels alleged with evidence hereafter. Do the right thing.#BanThePredatorsAnd for fans looking to signal boost this message, I strongly recommend you post this message onto your socials:"I'm a YouTube viewer. Safety matters. Stand together to tell @YouTube: NO ROOM FOR PREDATORS. It's crucial to ban Shane Dawson, Colleen Ballinger, James Charles, Onision, and other proven YT predators. Join the movement, sign the petition: https://change.org/BanThePredators #BanThePredators"
