This is how all tech companies got funded, and still do. YouTube doesn't even have much of a network effect, it's just that nobody made anything comparable that was actually better.

> This is how all tech companies got funded, and still do

This isn't really germane to what's right. We all know how the surveillance industry operates - investment, lock in, and then enshittification. And sure, it seems to work for it in a pragmatic sense. But that doesn't mean we should find virtue in rewarding it, which was what the original argument is about.

> YouTube doesn't even have much of a network effect

I'm not interested in arguing with goalposts being moved, especially by ignorance.

Is it more right for you to expect something for nothing?

Youtube themselves created that expectation, so yes.