YouTube gives dislikes the thumbs-down, hides public counts

YouTube have started hiding public dislike statistics on content throughout the platform from Wednesday.

According to the firm, the change is intended to protect smaller creators from hate assaults or harassment, as well as to foster "respectful relationships between viewers and creators."

The hate button will remain, but it will be used for private criticism rather than public shame. Users can still click the thumbs down button on videos to signal their dislike to creators privately.

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Meanwhile, creators will be able to track their dislikes in YouTube Studio alongside other analytics about their video’s performance, if they choose.

Given the extent to which it affects the public's visibility into a video's reception, the decision is sure to be contentious.

However, YouTube believes the adjustment would better protect its artists from abuse and lessen the potential of "dislike assaults," which occur when a group works together to increase the number of dislikes a video receives.

The modification is the result of an experiment conducted by YouTube earlier this year to see if such adjustments might reduce hate assaults and creator harassment.

YouTube said at the time that public hate counts can have an impact on producers' well-being and may encourage focused campaigns to increase dislikes to videos.

While this is true, dislikes may also be used to alert people when videos are clickbait, spam, or misleading, which can be valuable.

(With inputs from agencies)