Crypto YouTubers have had their holiday spirits dampened by censorship, according to reports.
The sudden action by the video platform, which is considered a vital source of information about the new technology and market activity, has alarmed crypto personalities.
It’s a public fact that the Google-owned company has certain restrictions when it comes to the content uploaded to individual channels that, over the years, has become increasingly stringent. Content that is explicitly breaking advertiser-friendly guidelines is a big no-no, IBT reported.
Then there’s the demonetization element too for uttering swear words on videos that left most content creators at sea until a guide that YouTube published this year offered more clarity.
But what’s entirely out of the blue was the sudden restricting and deleting of videos containing crypto-related content.
In a tweet published on December 23, Chris Dunn – a crypto YouTuber with 210,000 subscribers and almost 7.5 million channel views – claimed:
“@YouTube just removed most of my crypto videos citing “harmful or dangerous content” and ‘sale of regulated goods’… it’s been 10 years of making videos, 200k+ subs, and 7M+ views. WTF are you guys doing @TeamYouTube?!”
.@YouTube just removed most of my crypto videos citing “harmful or dangerous content” and “sale of regulated goods”… it’s been 10 years of making videos, 200k+ subs, and 7M+ views. WTF are you guys doing @TeamYouTube?! pic.twitter.com/MPcKbBVrC4
— Chris Dunn (@ChrisDunnTV) December 23, 2019
In a separate tweet on December 23, crypto education channel Node Investor wrote:
“Merry Christmas to you also @YouTube. Apparently a video I posted two years ago on researching crypto’s is now illegal…Rules are changing.”
Merry Christmas to you also @YouTube. Apparently a video I posted two years ago on researching crypto’s is now illegal…Rules are changing pic.twitter.com/GdGqR3RVOw
— Node Investor (@NodeInvestor) December 23, 2019
Strike action
Dunn said he was served with a “strike” action against at least seven videos, each of which have been designated as “harmful or dangerous content,” Cointelegraph reported.
These videos’ titles include “50 Crypto Trading & Investing Lessons from the Past 5 Years,” “Is Bitcoin Really Money?” and “The Future of Initial Coin Offerings.”
A “strike” against a channel prevents the YouTuber from uploading, posting or streaming content for one week. A second strike extends this restriction to a two-week period, while a third within any 90-day period results in the permanent removal of the channel, YouTube informed Dunn in a notification.
Node Investor’s tweet reveals a similar notification – apparently pertaining to just one video – indicating that the content has been removed due to a violation of the platform’s “sale of regulated goods policy.”
Cybersecurity
YouTube does not ostensibly restrict legitimate crypto-related content, but cybersecurity researchers have recently detected abuses of the platform for the purposes of spreading cryptojacking malware, the Cointelegraph report said.
Once blanket-banned on Facebook, Google and Twitter, restrictions on blockchain-related advertisements have now gradually been lifted, and some provisions have been introduced to make the policy more nuanced and permit most forms of crypto-related content, except for misleading ads.
