Zara Larsson has spoken out against YouTube after her video was blocked under the LGBTQ restrictions
One of our fave new popstars and Swedish singing sensation Zara Larsson has spoken out against YouTube after the video for her latest single was blocked under the streaming giant’s controversial Restricted Mode.
Zara Larsson released her sophomore album So Good last week (March 17th), and to celebrate dropped an emotional new video for her song “Symphony,” which features Clean Bandit. The clip is an incredibly detailed and emotional meditation on love and loss, and features an LGBTQ storyline.
However, earlier this week it was brought to mainstream attention that YouTube had been hiding some videos to users with Restricted Mode enabled. The reason? Because said videos contained LGBTQ content. Popular YouTubers such as Tyler Oakley, Hannah Hart, and Connor Franta have since spoken out against the “ban,” alongside Canadian musicians Tegan and Sara.
until we hear back from @youtube, please actively check on all LGBTQ+ creators you're subscribed to & continue to support their content.
— Tyler Oakley (@tyleroakley) March 19, 2017
Well, it seems that Zara Larsson’s video for “Symphony” has fallen victim to the same restrictions.
Taking to Twitter, Larsson shared her disappointment and upset over Restricted Mode, which seems to be aggressively target LGBTQ-themed videos.
Is this shit for real? https://t.co/YpFx8Hlwy0
— Zara Larsson (@zaralarsson) March 21, 2017
The singer has also spoken to Fuse about the move, which she said she’s completely confused about.
“I just gotta look more into what that’s really about, because if it is what I thought it was…we were very upset when we heard [about it],” she said. “It’s a beautiful video about a love story, and they happen to be gay. I feel like we wanted to showcase that because it’s just a relationship. Also that’s why we made the video. Of course it could be a straight, white couple that you see everywhere, in every movie, but…we wanted to showcase a different relationship…a completely normal relationship.”
Watch the video in question, “Symphony,” below.
Since it came to light that YouTube was age restricting and blocking certain LGBTQ videos, the video streaming service has since apologized, and said that they are working on a fix for the problem.
“There’s nothing more important to us than being a platform where anyone can belong, have a voice and speak out when they believe something needs to be changed,” Johanna Wright, VP of Product Management, wrote in a blog post. “We truly appreciate your help keeping the YouTube community active and engaged on topics that matter to creators and YouTube fans alike.”
They also shared the following tweet.
A message to our community ... pic.twitter.com/oHNiiI7CVs
— YouTube Creators (@YTCreators) March 20, 2017
However, as Tegan and Sara pointed out, some LGBTQ-themed videos are still being restricted.
We promise to stay on this issue with @YTCreators not only for our own content but for the many LGBTQ content creators with less visibility.
— Tegan and Sara (@teganandsara) March 22, 2017
Trust us when we say we don't think this was @YTCreators trying to restrict LGBTQ voices. But they are and they need to fix it.
— Tegan and Sara (@teganandsara) March 22, 2017
It seems that YouTube have yet to respond.
