Some of the YouTube community is in an uproar over changes by the company that have demonetized some channels and erased the videos of others.
The move came a day after Vox host Carlos Maza posted a lengthy Twitter thread complaining about instances of homophobic comments directed toward him from conservative pundit Steven Crowder. Crowder’s channel has been temporarily banned from getting ad revenue, but he is still allowed to post videos.
YouTube responded by saying that for Crowder’s monetization to be reinstated, “he will need to address all of the issues with his channel.”
Sorry for the confusion, we were responding to your tweets about the T-shirts. Again, this channel is demonetized due to continued egregious actions that have harmed the broader community. To be reinstated, he will need to address all of the issues with his channel.
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) June 5, 2019
A number of other users said that their channels had also been demonetized. The hashtag #VoxAdpocalypse trended Wednesday night.
Channels are being fully demonetized at a insane rate. I can’t keep up! #VoxAdpocalypse pic.twitter.com/j7EdwzKvMp
— KEEM 🍿 (@KEEMSTAR) June 5, 2019
Wednesday’s policy announcement expressly prohibits videos that “justify discrimination, segregation or exclusion based on qualities like age, gender, race, caste, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status,” which has led to some unintended consequences, including a history teacher’s channel being taken down before being restored Wednesday night.
The move, which the company said was intended to decrease hate speech such as Nazi propaganda, backfired for history teacher Scott Allsop. Allsop has been running a history channel for years and said it appeared 100 of his videos were wiped under the new policy. In addition to historical videos, his channel contained archival footage of speeches by Adolf Hitler.
Allsop tweeted about it before confirming that YouTube had restored the channel Wednesday evening.
“YouTube have banned me for ‘hate speech’, I think due to clips on Nazi policy featuring propaganda speeches by Nazi leaders. I’m devastated to have this claim levelled against me, and frustrated 15yrs of materials for #HistoryTeacher community have ended so abruptly,” he said.
The history teacher later tweeted, “UPDATE: my YouTube channel is now restored, albeit with flags on some clips and one completely removed. Still more than 100 useful #HistoryTeacher clips online. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped. I’m delighted http://www.mrallsophistory.com is back, but now I’m going to bed!”
UPDATE: my YouTube channel is now restored, albeit with flags on some clips and one completely removed. Still more than 100 useful #HistoryTeacher clips online.
Heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped. I’m delighted https://t.co/YV1lZW8U64 is back, but now I’m going to bed!— Mr Allsop History (@MrAllsopHistory) June 6, 2019
Wednesday’s controversy comes amid an ongoing debate about banning social media users.
