YouTube's 'man boobs' dilemma

Video sharing site YouTube has found itself in a dilemma over where to draw the line between titillating and acceptable in videos involving “man boobs." Tech site CNET quoted YouTube director for global communications and policy Victoria Grand as saying that the company’s employees still fiercely debate over the acceptability of such content. “Recently we had the issue of man boobs--do man boobs need to be age-restricted or not? ... Literally, these are the things that we debate ferociously to the point that we don’t sleep at night" it quoted Grand as saying at a panel discussion on free speech in San Francisco. She said YouTube tries to balance user safety and age appropriateness versus what a general community of kids 13 and up can see. Man boobs, or gynecomastia, is an unlikely but popular category on YouTube, the CNET article said. It noted one “Mr. Pregnant" has uploaded more than 1,000 videos, including one that has been viewed nearly two million times. While YouTube bans pornography, its policies allow “partial nudity and non-sexual nudity" so long as those videos are placed behind a warning screen that requires users to say they’re 18 years or older. But for now, CNET noted YouTube has so far not age-restricted the videos uploaded by “Mr. Pregnant." “With respect to porn where we draw the line it’s very difficult," Grand said. “We evaluate these things on a case by case basis," she added. — TJD, GMA News