Nobody has to use YouTube. There are many other video hosting/watching platforms. None of them are especially popular because they get filled with a lot of junk

Nobody has to use YouTube. There are many other video hosting/watching platforms. None of them are especially popular because they get filled with a lot of junk, because they attract the people who can't host their content on YouTube. In a way, this dynamic is an effective, natural check on moderation. If moderation primarily removes stuff that most people think is junk, then alternatives competing on reduced moderation will be junk. If moderation removes valuable stuff that lots of people want, then other platforms that host it instead will receive more traffic and legitimacy. It's kind of like the Reddit vs. Voat thing. Reddit isn't great, but Voat ended up a cesspool, because Reddit's biggest exoduses were driven by hate groups.