I'm Leaving
YouTube
A model now reads your viewing history to decide how old you are. If it decides wrongly, the way to argue is a passport.
Your watch history stopped being a record and became evidence. YouTube reads it to reach a conclusion about who you are, and will not say which parts counted.
It Guesses My Age
Since August 2025 YouTube has used a model to estimate whether American users are under eighteen, from watch history, searches and how old the account is. The birthday I entered is no longer what decides.
I'd Need A Passport
If the estimate is wrong, YouTube offers three ways to appeal: a government identity document, a credit card, or a photograph of my face. I am not willing to hand over more data to correct a guess.
I'm Not Told Why
YouTube says the model uses a variety of signals but has never published the full list. I cannot know what about my viewing produced the conclusion, which leaves the appeal as my only route back.
CuriosityStream
A documentary service for science, history and nature, with no advertising in the subscription and nothing to skip. Everything on it was commissioned or licensed, so the people who made it were paid before you pressed play. It is not a replacement for YouTube and does not pretend to be — none of the channels you follow are there, and nothing imports. Its licensing arm, which sells footage to companies training AI models, now earns more than its subscriptions do.
Nebula
The platform built by video makers who wanted out from under the algorithm, owned by the creators themselves and funded entirely by subscriptions. No advertising and no sponsor reads. It is invitation-only and modest in size, so most channels you follow will not be there. CuriosityStream holds just under a sixth of it, so the two options on this page share a shareholder.
