YouTube has announced new steps to tackle channels that upload “harmful” content.
Ariel Bardin, the Vice President of Product Management at YouTube, said channels that upload videos that result in “widespread harm” to creators and advertisers may lose access to partnership programmes and advertising, or may no longer be recommended to viewers.
In a post on the YouTube Creator Blog, Bardin wrote: “We’ve long had a set of Community Guidelines that act as rules of the road for what creators can share on our platform and a set of Ad-Friendly Guidelines for what they can monetise.
“We also have a system of strikes we use to enforce those guidelines which can ultimately result in a channel’s termination. But in very rare instances, we need a broader set of tools at our disposal that can be used more quickly and effectively than the current system of guidelines and strikes.”
Bardin went on to admit that YouTube’s response to previous instances of channels uploading harmful content had been “slow”.
He also emphasised that these new tools would only be implemented “in a rare handful” of cases and that YouTube still believes “strongly in the freedom of expression”.
In response to this announcement, gaming YouTuber Sean McLoughlin appreciated their increased “transparency”:
It's fantastic to see you communicating more and being more clear on what's going on. We all appreciate the transparency. If implemented properly and efficiently this could definitely help strengthen the platform
— Jacksepticeye (@Jack_Septic_Eye) February 9, 2018
Fellow gamer Ethan Nestor‑Darling also responded positively to the news, describing it as “a step in the right direction”:
A step in the right direction, YouTube! Glad to see you guys are taking action a bit more quickly and are being more transparent with us! Thank you!
— CrankGameplays (@CrankGameplays) February 9, 2018
The move comes after YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki set out her priorities for creators in 2018 in a blog post just a few days ago – in which she spoke of “tightening and enforcing our policies” when it comes to creators who do “something egregious that causes serious harm”.
The full set of policies and penalties can be found on the YouTube Help website.
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