YouTube's Running a New Test Which Hides Comments on All Videos

As YouTube works to clean up its platform amid criticism over how it has facilitated all sorts of extreme movements and communities, the video platform is now testing a new option which would see all video comments hidden by default, with users needing to tap a button to view any comments on a video. As you can see in this example, provided by XDA Developers, all comments on all videos, in this iteration of the app, would be hidden behind a specific 'Comments' button. That would mean that if users chose to view them, they would need to make specific effort to do so, which could help reduce issues with spam, abuse, and the spread of concerning content. Which seems like a pretty generic response - what YouTube isn't acknowledging is that this test is likely spurred by reports that pedophile groups have been using video comments to share content on the platform, or that politically radicalized users have been connecting with each other via the same.