What is that alternate platform?
For many people, web video is YouTube.
Ask 100 random people on any city street where they'd find videos on the web and I am betting 0 of them will come up with any answer resembling yours.
> A not-yet-existent, co-op-owned platform where
Yes, so "not-yet-existent" answers the question. The alternative does not exist.
But you seem like you have an idea fleshed out, so why don't you build this alternate video platform?
Millions upon millions of people watching YT, but GP "needs to get out more" in order to experience your fantasy platform that doesn't exist. Ok.
But YT is where channels I watch such as Linus TechTips, BigClive, Cody's Channel, Chef John, Glen and Friends, Andrew Camarata et al publish their content to.
Realistically, how do we change this?
This is how every platform starts out. Success is a curse that drags companies into politics and money games, causing them to succumb to censorship and other unintended policies.
The only solution is a platform that can prove that it has no ability to censor content. This requires advanced cryptography knowledge. Never trust the "word" of a company or a platform.