We all know academic cheating is never a good idea, but it’s not illegal. And while you won’t get arrested for copying off your mate’s paper during an exam, it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.
Last week, YouTube officially decided there is no place for academic dishonesty on its platform.
The video-sharing site started cracking down on content that advertises cheating services to students, by abruptly removing videos containing sponsored shoutouts that encourage the hiring of “super smart nerds” to write assignments.Â
According to The Verge “. . . hundreds of YouTube channels have [recently] had their videos removed from the site following a BBC investigation that found the widespread promotion of an essay-writing service as a way for students to cheat at school.”
Many YouTubers that create content aimed at younger demographics (i.e. Gen-Zers) had uploaded videos sponsored by EduBirdie. The Ukraine-based online company claims to sell “plagiarized-free” essays to students of various academic levels.
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According to the BBC, more than 250 YouTube channels were actively promoting EduBirdie’s services, with creators giving the company a shoutout and encouraging their viewers to use buy assignments from their website.
The BBC also reports that YouTube did try to reach out to a few channels, warning creators that it would remove content sponsored by EduBirdie if it wasn’t edited out by last Friday.
One channel, however, claims that forty-nine of its videos were removed without warning “overnight”. Â
YouTube Just removed 49 of our videos. 1vid/week = years worth of work, dissapeared over night. Thanks Edu birdie @PhillyD @KEEMSTAR
— To Catch A Cheater (@OfficialTCAC) May 4, 2018
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Either way, we applaud YouTube for taking a stance against cheating and working to maintain ethical advertising standards on the platform.
What are your thoughts? Let us know the comments below.Â