3. YouTube’s regulation model: flagging as part of the whole

Flagging is part of the way that content is being regulated on YouTube. As an extension on the first chapter about the ontology of user-tools, I’d like to get into the aspect of control; how is this executed, who controls this user-generated content and to what extent? In this chapter I not only look at the options that YouTube’s interface presents to the user. But also how this interface offers an insight in how the company YouTube (Google) works.

YouTube’s regulation model is only part self-regulatory with a ‘Notice and Takedown’ policy. It is basically a system that works on three levels:

1. International level / legal level: rules and regulations set by governments
2. Level for self-regulation: community flagging practices
3. Level of automation: automated filters.

This in order to comply with not only the demands of the user community, but also the concerns raised by privacy agencies, data protection agencies, the copyright industry and other legal departments.