"'Dokdo is Our Land' Tzuyang Faces 'Dislike Terror' Controversy... Disappearing from YouTube"

YouTube: "Many creators have given feedback asking to hide users' feelings of disgust on the platform"

Mukbang YouTuber Tzuyang.
Photo by Tzuyang YouTube capture [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] From now on, the number of 'dislikes' on YouTube videos will be hidden. This change reflects concerns that 'dislikes' harm creators' mental health, effectively putting an end to 'dislike attacks' targeting YouTubers.

On the 11th, YouTube announced that it will no longer display the number of 'dislikes' on videos. However, creators will still be able to see the number of 'dislikes' in 'YouTube Studio,' where they can check their content's performance.

Until now, 'dislikes' served as a way to express dissatisfaction with content. However, collective 'dislike attacks' emerged, turning into a means to pressure creators. Recently, mukbang YouTuber Jjuyang faced a 'dislike attack' from Japanese users on her 'Dokdo Mukbang' video commemorating Dokdo Day (October 25). Japanese users expressed their dissatisfaction with the subtitles stating 'Dokdo is Korean territory' in English, Chinese, and Japanese by increasing the number of 'dislikes,' causing controversy.

This YouTube update follows an experiment hiding 'dislikes' that began in March. YouTube explained the background of the experiment, saying, "Many video creators have requested hiding the number of dislikes due to users' hateful reactions on the platform. It was pointed out that the number of dislikes harms creators' mental health and that there are side effects such as abuse, hate campaigns, and targeted attacks aimed at artificially increasing dislikes."

Regarding the experiment results, YouTube stated, "When the number of dislikes was not shown, the tendency to deliberately press the dislike button to increase the count decreased."

YouTube added, "Some may disagree with this decision, but we believe it is the right thing for the YouTube platform. This update is just one of many measures to protect creators from harassment. We will not spare any investment to protect creators."