Tuesday, September 08, 2015

Child porn convict + YouTube = bad idea

Fact #1: Doug Rock has been convicted of possessing child porn.
Fact #2: Doug Rock once made scads of money by posting videos of his stunt driving to a popular YouTube channel.
Fact #3: Doug Rock lives just north of London, in a burg called Lucan, and would invite area boys to participate in and watch him record his videos.
Fact #4: YouTube pulled his channel in 2012 after the London Free Press reported on his 1990s child porn convictions.
Fact #5: Rock has once again resurfaced on YouTube.
Fact #6: He has admitted that teenaged boys are his target audience.

Pat Maloney, a reporter for the Free Press, called me for comment last week when Fact #5 - his return to YouTube - became known. I shared my thoughts in his article here:
London stuntman's videos still showing on YouTube despite child porn conviction
As a technologist, a journalist and a parent, the fact that sex crime convicts like Rock can have unfettered access to platforms like YouTube so that they can continue to seek and groom additional victims is, in a word, chilling. That this doesn't outrage us to no end is, frankly, surprising to me.

As much as I understand YouTube's business model - respond only when complaints are received - it leaves giant, gaping holes for people like Rock to ply their trade and perpetuate tech-assisted crimes against society's most vulnerable children.

Indeed, Google, which owns YouTube, has no problem with Rock's video channel. According to Mr. Maloney's story in the Free Press:
"A Google spokesperson indicated Friday there was no plan to take them down — the G-rated videos don’t breach their content standards — despite Rock’s conviction for possessing child porn. He faces at least one year in jail."
Am I the only one who finds this insane?

No comments: