On the unregulated set of a YouTube channel with more than 10 million subscribers — one you've probably never heard of — 11 teen plaintiffs allege shocking abuse. The channel makes millions of dollars by entertaining young children. From me + @KalhanR nbcnews.com/pop-culture/ce…
On Piper Rockelle's channel, videos with millions of views depict children engaging in what many adults characterize as age-inappropriate skits, which parents say the kids and their viewers didn't understand was supposed to be fake — leading to trauma, harassment, and bullying.
Many of the children who performed with Piper had worked on real TV and movie sets before, but in YouTube’s Hollywood, there are no rules or regulations. Parents said Tiffany Smith, Piper’s mom, abused their kids under her “care and control.”
These are just some of the claims of sexual abuse, which are very difficult to read. Tiffany Smith denies the claims. This is what children say happens to them in the Wild West of YouTube stardom.
But wait, there's more. After leaving Piper's "Squad," the plaintiffs say their own YouTube revenue on their own channels plummeted. They accuse Tiffany Smith and her boyfriend Hunter Hill of various methods of sabotaging the kids' YouTube channels. This is dystopian stuff.
If you have heard of Piper Rockelle before, it’s probably because of this @Pink tweet from 2021. I’ve been following this harrowing story ever since. It involves various defamation lawsuits spanning years, the stars of the OG TikTok, Musical.ly, and even the FBI.
But what's missing from the story is accountability. Back in Sept 2021, after the P!nk tweet, @kieranpressreyn and I started requesting comment from YouTube. First, they took down three of Piper's thumbnails for violating their child safety policy. insider.com/piper-rockelle…
You may be wondering, "Hm, if YouTube recognizes elements of this channel violate child safety, shouldn't they take further action?" Well, you'd be wrong. It took the current lawsuit being sent to YouTube for them to demonetize Piper's channel. insider.com/youtube-piper-…
Oh, and Piper's channel? It's still up, she's still churning out videos featuring other kids, she's selling merch and touring the country, and Tiffany Smith said she has obtained a permit to work with children in California. (h/t @AmyKinLA and the LA Times, story linked in ours)
This is a civil case, so it won't impact the status quo in YouTube by itself. I talked to the brilliant @CatalinaGoanta about the much wider global landscape of child influencers and the implications of various cases over the past 10 years.
Here is the full complaint for today's case detailing all of the most current allegations: dhillonlaw.com/wp-content/upl…
Our story is just the tip of the iceberg — not just for Tiffany Smith's YouTube operation, but for the entire platform and how it enables the monetization of child abuse. nbcnews.com/pop-culture/ce…
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