PORN’S A THORN
YouTube hackers sneak in videos
Dear John: I love reading your economic articles in The Post. I also respect how you go after companies that violate their public trust, like Facebook, which you took on for allowing pedophiles to post messages promoting sexual contact with children.
I noticed that hackers have circumvented YouTube’s nographic-sexual-contact policy, even when the filter is on, by posting short porn clips within another video. This problem has been going on for a while, and I flagged several of those videos for YouTube to block, but they continue to pop up.
I have not been able to contact YouTube or Google, which owns YouTube, to ask them to do more to stop the proliferation of these videos.
The porn videos can pop up anytime you are doing a search on YouTube.
I was hoping that you can get to the bottom of this and get YouTube or Google management to put a stop to this as soon as possible. Thanks. R.A.
Dear R.A.: Yes, the link you sent me was definitely pornographic and also a pretty graphic tutorial on how to make babies.
YouTube pulled the site down and terminated the users soon after I made the company aware. But as you explained to me, and what I didn’t put in this column, is that a search of certain words almost inevitably gets you more porn. I sent YouTube your entire e-mail, so it knows the search words that bring up the porn sites. What can I say?
This crap isn’t going away. YouTube, Facebook and every other Web site is vulnerable because of the number of people who use them. These sites aim to be as open as possible, and parents can’t monitor what their kids do at every moment of the day.
So American kiddies are going to catch a beheading now and then. Big deal!
Well, of course it’s a big deal! Kids see enough inappropriate things on TV. They don’t need the Islamic State group filling their minds with nonsense, or pedophiles filling their eyes with stuff that’ll make grown-ups cringe.
What’s the answer? Eventually these popular Web sites will figure out a way to stop inappropriate material in its tracks.
I went after Facebook’s advertisers a few years back when it ig- nored my readers’ complaints about pedophiles, and the company squealed like a piglet.
Dear John: I’ve been a co-op owner at Queens’ Deepdale Gardens for more than 14 years.
We received School Tax Relief Exemption (STAR) credits in June of each year from the New York City Finance Department. Last year, the co-op board authorized an assessment of $300, plus a one-time abatement.
However, this year it is once again taking out an assessment. The co-op office couldn’t tell me what the assessment is for. Is that legal? J. & E. Dear J. & E.: The city finance department says it has no control over the assessments that your co-op imposes. The city credit you get is separate.
And, yes, I believe that co-op owners are entitled to know where the board is spending your money. I suppose you’ve asked and have been told.
I called Deepdale Gardens and management refused to give me any details about the assessment or anything else.
The phone number is (718) 4286011 in case anyone with a sense of fairness would like to try for themselves.