Founder of the SevenAwesomeKids YouTube Channel Ian Rylett Arrested for Molestation.

Company Background

YouTube was first started in 2005 when three former PayPal workers, Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, decided to create in February of that year.  They did not own the company for very long because only a year after making it Google bought it for over a billion dollars.  YouTube is a video sharing platform where any person can make a channel and upload videos of whatever their hearts desires, as long as it is within the YouTube guidelines.  YouTube also allows users to like videos, subscribe to users, and even write comments on videos that could explain their gratitude towards the content creator. 

The Controversy

On August 16th, 2018 a man named Ian Rylett was arrested for allegedly molesting a minor.  Rylett was known for running many successful YouTube channels, all of which involves young girls acting in skits.  This arrest happened after Rylett was accused of assaulting a young girl while they were working on a video.  During the arraignment Rylett pleaded not guilty and is set to stand trial later this year.  Rather than removing these videos YouTube simply demonetized the videos, meaning that the content creators could not make money off of the videos.  Many of the girl stars for the channel talked about how manipulative Rylett was, by making the girls spend their own money on the sets and lighting in order to gain a spot on his most popular channel.  They also mentioned how poor they were treated, and how they only stayed because of their love for YouTube and how it will affect their later careers.  

Individualism 

An individualist person would see this case as being ethical.  This is because YouTube did not legally have to delete these channels, and by demonetizing the channels they won't have to give them money thus making their profit larger.  Some may think that YouTube will take a huge hit from this issue, however that is not the case because there are 1000s of other channels on YouTube that will generate profit for YouTube.

Utilitarianism

A utilitarianist would view this case as being unethical.  This is because YouTube never looked at the consequences of their actions.  YouTube should have thought about all of the people who would be unhappy by this content staying up, such as the girls in the videos as well as the families who put their trust in Ian Rylett.  YouTube was only thinking about themselves and the profits they could still receive from this channel.  

Kantianism

A Kantian would view this case as being unethical.  This is because YouTube was using bad will instead of good will when making their decision.  They used bad will because most people will not find keeping the content of a child molester as being morally correct.  In Kantianism there are three formulas and the two that YouTube did not suffice with this decision are The Formula of Humanity, and The Formula of Universal Law.

Virtue Theory

A virtue theorist would view this case as being unethical.  This is because keeping the content up will hurt the character of YouTube, rather than help it.  It will hurt because people will not like seeing content that was created by a child molester.  he two issues hat are used to judge one's character that were broken by YouTube was courage and empathy.




These facts and analyses are based on an original essay conducted by Tyler Williston, "Founder of the SevenAwesomeKids YouTube Channel Ian Rylett Arrested for Molestation."

Works Cited

         1.     Crosby, Rebecca. SevenAwesomeKids Producer Ian Rylett Has Been Arrested for Molestation. StudyBreaks. Retrieved from   

          https://studybreaks.com/tvfilm/sevenawesomekids-producer-ian-rylett-has-been-arrested-for-molestation/

2.     D’Aluisio, Alexandra. Founder of Tween YouTube Channel Arrested for Molesting Underage Girl. Clevver. Retrieved from

 http://www.clevver.com/ian-rylett-arrested-molesting-minor/

3.     Katzowitz, Josh.  Creator of SevenAwesomeKids YouTube Channel charged with molesting underage performer. DailyDot. Retrieved from https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/ian-rylett-sevensupergirls-owner-charged-molestation/

4.     Stephen, Bijan. The co-founder of a prominent tween girl YouTube network has been arrested for molesting a minor. The Verge. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/24/17896110/youtube-sevenawesomekids-ian-rylett-molestation

5.     Warzel, Charlie. The Creator of One of YouTube’s Top Tween Channels Was Arrested for Molesting A Minor. YouTube Is Keeping The Channel Up. BuzzFeed. Retrieved from 

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/charliewarzel/youtube-tween-channel-owner-arrested-for-molesting