The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.22 Parents Poisoning Their Children To "Cure" Autism, YouTube Sub Count Changes, & More & s

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you have a fantastic Wednesday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show and let's just jump into it. And the first thing we're gonna talk about today is this seemingly small, insignificant, kind of random change that may actually have a huge impact on future controversies. So YouTube yesterday makes this kind of small announcement on a YouTube support help page. It's a thread on support.google.com. And they announce, Currently all creators with over 1,000 subscribers see their subscriber counts displayed differently in different places across YouTube desktop and mobile apps.

Starting point is 00:00:26 And explaining in some places it shows the exact count, like 133,017, and in others it's just abbreviated, like 133K. And so they announced that in August, to create more consistency everywhere that we publicly display subscriber counts, we'll begin showing the abbreviated subscriber number across all public YouTube services.

Starting point is 00:00:42 And following this announcement, I reached out, I got some more specifics. From 1,000 to 1 million subscribers, it will be abbreviated like they explained there to the 1,000 number. From 1 million to 10 million, it will be abbreviated at the 100,000 level. So for example, it will show 6.4 million for my channel.

Starting point is 00:00:56 And they provide some animated examples of what this will look like for creators of different levels, all the way from 4,000 and some changed subscribers, all the way up to 15 million plus. And so that announcement was made, and when some creators got wind of It they were like well why seems incredibly random aren't there other things to focus on but there's one sentence in this announcement that really sticks Out and that's that YouTube says third parties that use YouTube's API services will also access the same public facing counts you see on

Starting point is 00:01:17 YouTube and the reason that could be huge is that real-time subscriber counts and sites like socialblade.com that use YouTube's API have been a Pivotal part of pretty much every controversy not just in the past year subscriber counts and sites like socialblade.com that use YouTube's API have been a pivotal part of pretty much every controversy, not just in the past year, but all the way back to things like the Fine Bros controversy. Audiences are more interested and focused than ever in the real-time impact of success and failure. To the point that it often feels like people

Starting point is 00:01:37 are watching it like it's a sporting event. People have argued that it's not just this passive thing, but it is also something that fuels the controversy and fuels even further hate. And this isn't just some small-time thing, like the number that I always go to because it's just so bonkers. There's a new livestream now for it, but there was a Flare TV livestream that has accrued 116 million plus views. And it was their livestream for PewDiePie vs. T-Series. More recent example was the livestream for Tati and James Charles. That was a 219 hour livestream

Starting point is 00:02:05 that accrued more than four million views. And so this change from YouTube may actually change all of that. At first, Social Blade seemingly not concerned, tweeting, we get our data from YouTube's API, which should continue to show accurate data for subscriber count, but then just minutes later, writing upon closer look, it might affect our data display,

Starting point is 00:02:19 but only time will tell. And so now there's a situation where if these YouTube changes make it so that sites like Social Blade cannot go real-time Was that maybe the point of all of it? Is this YouTube's way of battling cancel culture? Which it feels like if 2018 was the year where everyone was talking about YouTube burnout 2019 is very much the year that people have been talking about cancel culture more than ever.

Starting point is 00:02:37 Now following this I reached out to my contacts at YouTube They stand by this is not a change about cancel culture. That this is just a change to be more consistent It brings them in line with places like Twitter and Instagram, and that is accurate. This change would put them in line with these other platforms, and this is just a personal feeling.

Starting point is 00:02:52 For me personally, the timing of this coming off of now two controversies still in the middle of one, it feels a little bit too convenient. That said, regarding if people think that's a good idea or a bad idea, I'd love to know your thoughts. You think the fascination around these real-time subscriber counts, that it in general is toxic It actually adds fuel to the fire

Starting point is 00:03:08 I feel like that's why YouTube's changing it which by the way, and I really do want to hit this note as of right now Because it hasn't been implemented. We don't know if this like completely cripples sites like social blade Yeah, I'd love to know your thoughts around this then let's talk about Baltimore Which it feels like for the first time in a long time where the story is not about police corruption. Instead, it's that in Baltimore, government computer servers have been held hostage by hackers for two weeks. Yes, really, reportedly on May 7th, hackers accessed nearly 10,000 government computers

Starting point is 00:03:33 and demanded that the city pay them 13 bitcoins, which comes to around $100,000 to get their computers back. And according to the Baltimore Sun, which reportedly obtained a copy of the ransom note, the hackers said that they would increase the ransom if the city didn't pay in four days. And adding that if the city didn't pay in 10 days, they would not be able to get their information

Starting point is 00:03:47 and data back at all. And of course, that was May 7th, so that means that both of these deadlines have come and gone, and the city has refused to pay the ransom. And that means that those servers that were shut down by the attack are still offline. And as far as what has been impacted in Baltimore, reportedly Baltimore officials were first alerted

Starting point is 00:04:00 to the ransomware when the Department of Public Works reported that their email servers were shut down. And after the city realized that it was a cyber attack that had shut down their servers, they quickly took other systems offline so the attack wouldn't spread. In fact, as of right now, it's not fully clear how widespread the attack was

Starting point is 00:04:12 because many systems are still down. Although a good piece of the news here is that city officials have said that emergency services like 911 dispatch were not affected by the attack. But systems connected to people paying their water bills, property taxes, parking tickets, those are down. City employees have been locked out of their emails for two weeks, so that of course has forced government employees to use their water bills, property taxes, parking tickets, those are down. City employees have been locked out of their emails for two weeks, so that of course has forced

Starting point is 00:04:27 government employees to use their own laptops, their personal email addresses. It's also hurt Baltimore's property market because officials can't access systems required for real estate sales. Though on Monday, the city announced they had developed a manual workaround that would allow real estate transactions to continue.

Starting point is 00:04:39 And as far as what Baltimore is doing now, according to Baltimore Mayor Jack Young, "'We are well into the restorative process "'and as I've indicated, are cooperating with the FBI "'on their investigation,' adding, "'We engage leading industry cybersecurity experts According to Baltimore Mayor Jack Young, And really with this story, I think it's important we talk about it for two reasons. The first one being Baltimore specific. For Baltimore, this is their second cyber attack in the last 15 months that we know about. And that last time was last March,

Starting point is 00:05:11 where a different attack shut down the city's 911 system for nearly a whole day. And while any number of cities and companies are susceptible to being hacked, some experts have argued that Baltimore is especially vulnerable. According to Bill Siegel, the chief executive at Kovor, which is a firm that helps various entities

Starting point is 00:05:23 that have experienced cyber attacks, I think broadly they are not prepared for these sorts of things, they do not have the budget. I think it's pretty obvious that they have not been able to stay ahead of it. But regarding that, it doesn't appear for lack of trying. After last year's attack, Baltimore City Council President Brandon Scott pushed city officials to invest

Starting point is 00:05:36 in strengthening the city's cyber defenses. And reportedly Baltimore's information security manager also warned that the city needed a formal policy to address cybersecurity during the budget hearings last year, but the budget reportedly didn't end up including any funding for the policy or any other investments in information technology infrastructure. And so now it appears to be coming back to bite them. But also on that note, it is not just Baltimore. In the last year alone, more than 20 cities or towns have been hit by cyber attacks.

Starting point is 00:05:58 Just last month, Greenville, North Carolina was hit with a similar attack that used the same ransomware. Last year, we saw Atlanta make headlines when hackers demanded that the city pay $50,000 in Bitcoin. Also like Baltimore, both Greenville and Atlanta refused to pay that ransom. And while that response is exactly what experts and law enforcement officials recommend, oftentimes the cost of a cyber attack can be much higher than the ransom requested.

Starting point is 00:06:16 According to a report, that attack in Atlanta ended up costing nearly $17 million to fix. Also of note here, unlike Baltimore, Greenville and Atlanta actually had insurance to cover cybersecurity incidents. Which is why one, the cost of what we're seeing in Baltimore could be extremely high, a burden that could very likely be passed on to the taxpayers. And two, a situation where cybersecurity experts say that it will probably take months for Baltimore to recover. Also, because I don't want it to seem like I'm saying that the city should pay the ransom, a big part of the reason that experts say do not pay them is one, you don't know if the hackers will actually give you access back.

Starting point is 00:06:44 And two, you have a number of experts saying that it incentivizes this behavior because they got paid here, they'll probably get paid in the future. But ultimately, that's where we are with this story right now. It's gonna be very interesting to see what happens with Baltimore as far as the rebuilding of this system,

Starting point is 00:06:55 if there can be some sort of recovery. Also, when and where we're gonna see stories like this popping up in the United States. But yeah, with that said, of course, I'd love to know your thoughts on this, especially if you're one of the people in Baltimore that's been affected by this. And then let's talk about a truly concerning and horrifying situation said, of course, I'd love to know your thoughts on this, especially if you're one of the people in Baltimore that's been affected by this. And then let's talk about a truly concerning and horrifying situation that, once again, in large part, revolves around Facebook parenting.

Starting point is 00:07:12 When I say Facebook parenting, I don't mean that if you're a parent who does anything on Facebook. What I mean by that is if you're a parent who uses and trusts Facebook and things that happen in private Facebook groups more than actual science. Although, it's not just a Facebook problem, and no, today we're not talking about anti-vaxxers. Instead, we're talking about the disturbing news that involves parents using a bleach substance as a treatment for diseases and conditions like autism. And at the center of this story, you have a man named Jim Humble,

Starting point is 00:07:36 who is reportedly an ex-Scientologist and a founder of his own church, the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing. And the ideology behind this church follows a discovery that Humble claims to have made while searching for gold in South America. He says that he found that chlorine dioxide, which he calls a miracle mineral solution, or MMS, could heal people with malaria. And over the years, Humble has put together a whole list of things that he claims MMS could treat, including cancer, MS, HIV slash AIDS, and autism, and actually, quote,

Starting point is 00:08:00 most diseases known to mankind. But of course, the issue here is that his miracle medical solution, his chlorine dioxide, most people just know it as bleach. And according to the FDA, they have no proof that chlorine dioxide has any healing properties. The FDA also issued a public warning where they told people to stop using MMS immediately and throw it away. Now, something important that I do want to hit on, an important note here, is that Humble does not technically claim that MMS fully cures anything. Rather, on his Website he says that it can quote restore partial or full health to hundreds of thousands of people adding MMS is an oxidizer

Starting point is 00:08:31 It kills pathogens and destroys poison when these are reduced or eliminated in the body Then the body can function properly and thereby heal But most medical leaders say that ingesting this is dangerous and even lethal. Health Canada even had to issue a statement back in 2015 Calling it dangerous to health. Also reportedly two deaths in the United States have been potentially linked to its use that ingesting this is dangerous and even lethal. Health Canada even had to issue a statement back in 2015 calling it dangerous to health. Also reportedly two deaths in the United States have been potentially linked to its use. We even saw the Department of Justice arrest someone

Starting point is 00:08:51 for marketing and selling the product in 2015. And in their statement, the DOJ said, "'Chlorine dioxide is a potent agent used to bleach textiles among other industrial applications. Chlorine dioxide is a severe respiratory and eye irritant that can cause nausea diarrhea and dehydration However because of the spread of misinformation online people do end up using it. In fact to make it even easier on Humble's website He tells you where you can buy it and he even encourages you to make it yourself. As far as how this misinformation regarding

Starting point is 00:09:15 MMS has traveled according to Business Insider. It's uh, it's our home It's actually largely thanks to YouTube. There's a community of people who've been promoting MMS as a legitimate medicine Humble even used to have his own channel of his own, but that no longer exists. And reportedly when YouTube became aware of Business Insider's report, they took down numerous videos and channels pertaining to MMS. But still as of recording this video, when you search for things like MMS treatment, on the first page of results you can find testimonials of individuals who claim that they've used it as well as other videos advocating for its use. You can even find videos of Humble's own messages and according to Business Insider, before videos were being taken down, the top MMS videos have been seen

Starting point is 00:09:47 by more than three million people collectively. Which I'll say, hey, quick note, because we're covering this topic, because YouTube's probably gotta focus on it, which means this video is far more likely to get hit and suppressed. Please share this video if you can, just so one, in the search results

Starting point is 00:10:01 for people looking up this BS, they can see this video. As well as two, a video that's trying to get the truth out there doesn't get hit because they're trying to crack down on misinformation just because the tags are the same. This is a global issue. The use of MMS has spread worldwide. In fact, there was a report that came out over the weekend from the Guardian that said an American pastor

Starting point is 00:10:16 who believed in the use of MMS has been training people to administer it in Uganda. And reportedly they've given it to 50,000 people there to fight diseases like malaria. And following this, the US Embassy in Uganda Tweeted out US mission is aware of reports that an American pastor based remotely is distributing a substance called miracle mineral solution to churches In Uganda strongly condemned the distribution of this substance, which is extremely dangerous and is not a cure for any disease now before moving forward I do want to note that humble is not the person who made MMS a popular treatment method for autism. Rather, there, an NBC report credits this to Kerry Rivera.

Starting point is 00:10:46 And she claims that chlorine dioxide cured her son of autism. She wrote a book about it, which has also been removed from Amazon. She also had a YouTube page, but it can no longer be accessed. However, there are several videos featuring her that still can be. She also has a website where she says 510 kids have recovered from autism using chlorine dioxide. She also offers her consulting services. And Rivera has played a key part in the spread of misinformation.

Starting point is 00:11:06 And reportedly it's because she's been talking about the product on various private Facebook pages that included parents looking to cure their children's cases of autism. And we know about this because NBC reported that they followed two women who inserted themselves as moles into these pages. Melissa Eaton and Amanda Segal

Starting point is 00:11:18 have been in these groups since 2016. And since then, they've seen these parents in these private Facebook groups post that they forced their kids to take MMS despite the fact these children are facing severe side effects. These children are screaming, they're vomiting, they're having trouble breathing. The two also reported more than 100 parents to Child Protective Services since then, but they don't know if any actions have been taken. But even still, if the parents are held accountable, how does this stop the spread?

Starting point is 00:11:40 Regarding that, it does look like some steps are being taken to curb this movement. This including the removal and suppression of certain videos. YouTube giving a statement saying, "...misinformation is a difficult challenge and any misinformation on medical topics is especially concerning." We've taken a number of steps to address this including surfacing more authoritative content across our site for people searching for related topics on YouTube. However, our community guidelines prohibit content intended to encourage dangerous activities that have an inherent risk of physical harm, and we work to quickly remove flagged videos that violate these policies. And on Facebook's end, reportedly they said that they were removing groups directly related to Rivera.

Starting point is 00:12:09 But ultimately, that's where we are right now and when it comes to these stories about misinformation, I really do wonder if there is ever a way that we can successfully combat it. Because when you look at situations like this, most likely you're dealing with people who feel desperate, who feel like they don't have any other options. They probably feel like they need to turn to anything, which unfortunately the intent doesn't matter if you're actually hurting the child. And I feel like, while it's probably part human nature, I feel like more than ever, when people believe something and they receive information that does not line up with that, so many people now take it as, like, an attack.

Starting point is 00:12:37 You know how in the past I've been very outspoken about anti-vaxxers? There are people out there that have conspiracies that I'm paid by Big Pharma. That, to some of them, is more believable than all the evidence stacked up against their beliefs. And so you kind of just have to make peace with the fact that there are always going to be people that are duped. I mention that not to say that companies or people shouldn't try to stop the spread, but I think that we should really understand that this generation and moving forward, misinformation is the ultimate disease. Whether it be the medical stuff we're talking about here, the fake news we've seen overseas that have led to deaths,

Starting point is 00:13:07 I think the future, it's gonna be very much about deepfakes. With how dark a lot of the stories are, I really try not to fearmonger, but we should be aware. We're heading into scary times. Depending on who you are, for a number of reasons, but this is definitely one of them. And that's where we're going to end today's show. Thank you so much for watching.

Starting point is 00:13:21 If you're not 100% filled in, you can click or tap right there to watch the last two videos, which you may have missed and you can catch up on. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you tomorrow.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.22 Parents Poisoning Their Children To "Cure" Autism, YouTube Sub Count Changes, & More & s

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