Okay, I am going to post this here instead of starting a new thread, but really it needs to be its own thread.
This has to do with the main argument being used to push the FTC to do what it is doing. The main argument is not that children's information is being harvested (which is what COPPA actually prohibits). The main case being pushed by those that are behind all of this effort to go after Content Creators directly, like Ryans World, is this. The case they are pushing is that young children do not have the psychological maturity to distinguish between a kid just playing with toys and a paid actor playing with toys they are promoting, and that YT channels that target kids are intentionally taking advantage of this psychological immaturity of children to make money off them.
Now personally, I don't have an issue with that reasoning when it comes to kids being more influenceable to suggestions. You don't need a degree in child psychology to know this. But the reality is, children, don't have money to buy things with. So no matter how much they are psychologically vulnerable to suggestions and influence, and whether they can distinguish between a child actor or a real kid playing with toys, it is all irrelevant because they child cannot make a buying decision alone. An adult parent or guardian is the one who actually makes the buying decision, and they do have the capacity to distinguish between a paid child actor and a regular child.
This where I see the whole argument against children's content creators on YT falling completely apart. I personally think the real issue here, is that we have a bunch of PARENTS that don't want to say NO to their kids and tell them they're not getting that toy that they saw on YouTube. So instead of being a responsible mature adult, they just don't want their kids screaming in the Wal-mart checkout line, "I WANT IT!!!", so they don't want them to see any product promotion on YT made for children.
Can I get some Amens?