First ever YouTube video edited by co-founder to predict decline of the platform

Jawed Karim, the third co-founder of YouTube, has condemned the platform’s removal of public dislike counts on videos, suggesting that the change will lead to YouTube’s decline.

“Why would YouTube make this universally disliked change? There is a reason, but it’s not a good one, and not one that will be publicly disclosed,” writes Karim. “The ability to easily and quickly identify bad content is an essential feature of a user-generated content platform. Why? Because not all user-generated content is good.”

YouTube made the change to its UI last week, saying it removed public dislikes in order to counter harassment and promote “respectful interactions between viewers and creators.” But many YouTuber users and creators have criticized the...

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