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Malta Reacts To Mature YouTube Videos ‘Disguising Themselves’ As Popular Children’s Cartoons

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Hundreds of videos that show disturbing adult content are being uploaded on YouTube, but the problem is that they’re disguising themselves as versions of popular children’s cartoons. 

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Dozens of famous characters, including Elsa from Frozen, the Minions, and Thomas the Tank Engine have already been appropriated in these videos that are definitely not suitable for children, but perhaps the most popular character whose adventures are being horribly changed is Peppa the Pig. 

The famous cartoon pig is seen getting her teeth savagely pulled out by a dentist, with distressed crying drowning out the soundtrack. Other episodes even include very explicit violence and gore.

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On Thursday, iNewsMalta reported the story of a Maltese mother who had a similar experience with her children and a Peppa the Pig video, this time with a parody that included an infamously crude Maltese song. 

While not exactly the same type of explicit videos that have been doing the rounds online, the parody video still includes content which is definitely intended for an adult audience. This particular case has a disclaimer and does not seem to be trying to trick children into watching it, but some parents are arguing that such disclaimers can easily go unnoticed by children.

Update: The original video has just been removed from YouTube by the original uploader, and the video below is a censored snippet uploaded by iNewsMalta

The mother condemned videos like this as shameful and horribly obscene, with other mothers joining in her shock and calling for the video (and any other similar ones) to be put down.

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Others, however, preferred to take everything with a pinch of salt. Notoriously blunt Internet parodist Daniel Dean Kingswell posted a lengthy status where he targeted potentially negligent parents. “You shouldn’t blame the creators because you can’t monitor what your kids watch on the internet,” Kingswell said.

Other people agreed with the Maltese YouTuber, commenting on parents’ neglect and pointing out that there are mechanisms in place that can easily prevent kids from watching videos of this sort.

While the Maltese Peppa the Pig video that has caused this controversy pales in comparison to the international ones mentioned before, the same points of discussion can easily be applied. In the meantime, there are two recommended ways to avoid inappropriate videos on YouTube. 

Firstly, you can download the YouTube Kids app, which should filter most of the disturbing videos. Unfortunately not all videos manage to get filtered off this way, in which case YouTube suggests turning on Restricted Mode, which can be found at the bottom of YouTube pages.

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When asked for an official statement on the ongoing controversy, YouTube did not offer a spokesperson, but said, “We take feedback very seriously. We appreciate people drawing problematic content to our attention, and make it easy for anyone to flag a video.”

Share this with someone who has young children – let’s raise awareness on these videos.

READ NEXT: What To Think About When Choosing Your Children’s School In Malta

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).

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