Censorship on YouTube

Extracted Attributes

• Key Policy Types

  Community Guidelines, Advertiser-Friendly Content Guidelines

• Nature of Censorship

  Varies by country

• Generative AI Strategy

  Transparent labeling, likeness detection technology

• YouTube's Stated Mission

  Give everyone a voice and show them the world; openness and free expression are at the heart of this

• Content Moderation Methods

  Automated detection and human reporting

• YouTube Premium Subscribers

  125 million

• Policy Status (Post-Pandemic)

  Relaxed

• Content Not Allowed (Examples)

  Violent extremist/criminal organizations, violent/gory content, animal abuse, pornography, incitement to violence, harassment, hate speech, harmful/dangerous content, spam, deceptive practices, scams

• Monetization Practice Affected

  Demonetization

• YouTube Partner Program Payouts

  Over $70 billion to creators

• Revenue Split (for top creators)

  55% for YouTube, 45% for creators

• Likeness Detection Technology Basis

  Content ID system

Timeline

• YouTube made difficult decisions regarding content moderation policies. (Source: document_5a31daeb-e653-4fbc-8e8f-b47c43f29181)

  During the pandemic

• YouTube's content moderation policies have since relaxed, influenced by calls for a more open environment. (Source: document_5a31daeb-e653-4fbc-8e8f-b47c43f29181)

  Post-pandemic

Censorship of YouTube

Censorship of video-sharing platform YouTube occurs to varying degrees in many countries.

Web Search Results

• Google to reinstate banned YouTube accounts censored for political ...

  Fox News Digital reached out to Google for comment. Google's revelations came in response to a yearslong Republican-led investigation by the committee into big tech companies, including Google, that censored and suppressed content on their platforms related to COVID-19, the 2020 election and Hunter Biden. YouTube’s posture follows Meta similarly shifting last year toward denouncing the Biden administration’s pressure tactics and welcoming more voices onto its platform. [...] The new policy from Google, also known by its parent company Alphabet, could affect both average users and well-known figures like FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, White House counterterrorism chief Sebastian Gorka and War Room podcast host Steve Bannon, all of whom were permanently banned in recent years for COVID-19 or election-related content. [...] The high court’s decision disappointed Republicans, who had hoped for a landmark ruling that social media companies’ censorship practices violate the First Amendment. The case also explored jawboning, which involves the government pressuring private companies to censor their speech.

• YouTube Policies Crafted for Openness - How YouTube Works

  Content that’s meant to praise, promote, or aid violent extremist or criminal organizations is not allowed on YouTube. We rely on many factors — like certain government and international organization designations — to determine what constitutes criminal or terrorist organizations. [...] Our Community Guidelines and Advertiser-Friendly Content Guidelines are what enable us to strike this balance. Community Guidelines Content that violates our community guidelines is flagged by a mix of automated detection and human reporting — most is automatically detected — and we go to great lengths to make sure violative content isn’t widely viewed, or even viewed at all, before it’s taken down. [...] Jump to content Our Policies YouTube’s mission is to give everyone a voice and show them the world — and openness and free expression are at the heart of this. Our platform is a place where a broad range of perspectives are encouraged, and we don’t shy away from disagreement and debate. jump to a section jump to a section Our Policies ## How Community & Ad-Friendly Guidelines work

• YouTube policies crafted for openness – how YouTube works

  Content that's meant to praise, promote or aid violent extremist or criminal organisations is not allowed on YouTube. We rely on many factors – like certain government and international organisation designations – to determine what constitutes criminal or terrorist organisations. [...] Our Community Guidelines and Advertiser-Friendly Content Guidelines are what enable us to strike this balance. Community Guidelines Content that violates our Community Guidelines is flagged by a mix of automated detection and human reporting — most of which is detected automatically — and we go to great lengths to make sure that violative content isn't widely viewed, or even viewed at all, before it's taken down. [...] Jump to content Our Policies YouTube's mission is to give everyone a voice and show them the world — and openness and free expression are at the heart of this. Our platform is a place where a broad range of perspectives are encouraged, and we don't shy away from disagreement and debate. jump to a section jump to a section Our Policies ## How Community & Ad-Friendly Guidelines work

• Violent or graphic content policies - YouTube Help

  This policy applies to videos, video descriptions, comments, live streams, and any other YouTube product or feature. ## Examples Here are some examples of content that’s not allowed on YouTube. [...] Violent or gory content intended to shock or disgust viewers, or content encouraging others to commit violent acts, are not allowed on YouTube. If you believe anyone is in imminent danger, you should get in touch with your local law enforcement agency to report the situation immediately. [...] Animal abuse refers to content that shows the malicious infliction of serious physical or psychological harm that causes an animal to suffer. We may make exceptions for content that shows widely accepted practices, like hunting, trapping, pest abatement, food preparation, medical treatment, or animal slaughter that shows harm to an animal or group of animals. Here are more examples of content that’s not allowed on YouTube:

• YouTube Community Guidelines enforcement

  At YouTube, our mission is to give everyone a voice and show them the world. Our policies help us maintain a responsible business that viewers, creators, and advertisers can rely on in order to continue to thrive on YouTube. We have Community Guidelines that set the rules of the road for what we don’t allow on YouTube. For example, we do not allow pornography, incitement to violence, harassment, or hate speech. We rely on a combination of [...] Harassment and cyberbullying Harmful or dangerous Violent or graphic Spam, deceptive practices and scams Harassment and cyberbullying Promotion of violence and violent extremism [...] YouTube relies on teams around the world to review flagged videos and remove content that violates our Community Guidelines; restrict videos (e.g., age-restrict content that may not be appropriate for all audiences); or leave the content live when it doesn’t violate our guidelines or warrants an exception for educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic context. This exhibit shows the number of videos removed by YouTube for violating our Community Guidelines.