That’s why it fucking sucks that Youtube is a monopoly.
JFC almost every top comment is “giant corporations can do what they want with their stuff. Go start your own giant corporation if you don’t like it!” Does Google have this many bots and shills doing image work even here?
That’s mostly one guy posting over and over. I’m surprised at the upvotes but I assume it’s because he adds a vague anti-corporate message to the end of most of them
Google can’t be trusted
Alphabet owns YouTube they set the rules, they host videos for free, sometimes they even pay users a portion of the ad revenue. YouTube is not a free (as in freedom) platform, it is a business. Choosing to base your income on that kind of platform is a risk, and users who do so should be extremely cautious about breaking rules on that platform.
Anyone is free to rent a VPS, install video hosting software, a message board, a blog, get advertisers who want to run ads on your site, and then you can do and say anything you want. Then YOU own the platform, you get to set the rules. But that takes a level of technical knowledge and personal responsibility that most ‘Career YouTubers’ are unwilling to take on.
Hear me out…maybe these services have grown so much they should be regulated as a utility just like the airwaves used to be. Not saying that will fix the problem, but will at least make them accountable beyond their opaque corporate structures and whims.
Maybe? The problem I have with that is they are not a radio station or TV station. or even an analog to one like a streaming service that provides access to local news/weather. They do not chose a bunch of programs to host and they generate a VERY small amount number of their own videos, they are a user generated content hosting site.
A comprehensive regulation of the conduct of a user generated content hosting services would have to be written by competent, intelligent, and technologically knowledgeable lawmakers. Otherwise it is guaranteed to make things worse for the end user (see age verification laws).
You’re only mentioning the hard bits like renting a VPS and installing software, but you shouldn’t gloss over the easy bits like spending tens od billions on getting a user base big enough to make it worthwhile running a video hosting platform.
YouTube’s network effect is what makes being a career YouTuber possible and Google spent billions and the better part of two decades making sure no other platform can offer this.
You own the platform, you own the rules, you die from no reach as every single platform silences you if you try to get users offsite!
Yup you are only ever renting the space. This trajectory was obvious years ago but people still followed it rather than diversifying.
It’s just another extension of you’ll own nothing and be happy. The quicker people move away from google/YT and all the tech bros media the better.
I understand that dragging traffic away from YouTube/Instagram/TikTok/whatever is a monumental task but people are literally gambling with their livelihood on the hope that a corporate service will always work in their favour. You can follow the rules as conservatively as possible, YOLO and be ready to loose your account, or host your online business on your own platform.
Impossible task really do you think a federated network is going to keep every video ever posted to it like Youtube does? I mean the storage that Youtube uses must be massive.
As a thought experiment, do you think that the ad revenue from watching ONLY videos on that guy’s channel were enough to cover the operating costs and infrastructure required to store and host all of that channel’s videos? If so then it should be possible, if extremely painful, to operate a vlogging business outside of YouTube.
Getting users TO your personal vlog site is a whole other problem but through Patreon (as an example) it is possible to funnel users out of the Alphabet/Meta/ByteDance networks. If any of my favorite channels were to announce they were transitioning to a new video sharing network I would gladly follow them off of YouTube.
Evidently they don’t keep all of them. 😉
They simply have a massive monopoly, and it is impossible to replace them, no matter how good your platform.
Because you depend in them and their buddies for advertisment.
he did not age gate it, assuming that censoring the explicit scenes would be enough to satisfy YouTube
That’s why you don’t just assume and gamble.
Right wingers literally build entire platforms to lift each other up and report/bitch en masse when anyone does this to one of theirs up to and including making millionaires our of people meanwhile, the alternate side…
Lectures Bring each other down Endless “i told you so”s Offer alternatives they themselves do not back monetarily
Then you wonder why the fuck no one buys into this bullshit.
Right wingers literally build entire platforms to lift each other up and report/bitch en masse
It’s not only “right wingers” that do this, as you very well know. You’re on Lemmy, for the love of God.
So… why do you leave the lefties out of this, and pretend it’s a “right” thing?
I know why…
Sure bro, we’re brigading and review bombing all the time here in between our jobs at the Cancel Factory.
Moron, lmao.
Would you be just as outraged if someone started running an online business via their lemmy.ca profile and then their account was closed for spamming (or breaking some other part of the TOS)?
Alphabet is not a good entity. They took what was Google and YouTube, and just crushed them into the same corporate hellscape that is every big business, BUT Alphabet does not force anyone to base their career on their platform. If you choose to use their platform you are subject to their rules whether you know what they are or agree with them. Like moving to the UAE for a high paying job, if you break the local, ridiculous and arbitrary laws, you are going to loose your job and maybe land your ass in jail.
Alphabet didn’t “take” Google and YouTube. There was no takeover or purchase. Alphabet was created as an umbrella over Google’s sprawling business empire.
Metaphorically “took” Google. There was an existing Don’t Be Evil business and it was taken and reshaped into a Be Very Evil business.
The game itself has an ESRB rating of Mature 17+ which should be enough of an indication that the video should have been age-restricted, the fact that he had to add his own censor bars means he was fully aware that the video was not appropriate for general consumption.
YouTube does not specifically state that censored nudity should immediately qualify a video for age-restriction but the several pages[1][2] of guidelines heavily suggests that you should err on the side of caution.
Age-restricted videos are not shown in certain areas of YouTube. These videos may have limited or no ads monetization.
Guy was greedy, he didn’t want to miss out on the ad revenue. When you have tied your livelihood to an account/service that uses automated checks and moderation, it is extremely irresponsible to push the boundaries, or even test them gently. YouTube is not YOUR job, you work for them, they own the platform, they set the rules.
Stop trusting corporations with the things you value.
Dang, 190k subscribers and his source of income? That’s pretty awful.
Poor guy, fuck these people
J0nathan claimed that this is the scene that got his channel banned, despite the fact uncensored gameplay of the same scene remains live on other YouTube channels. While he did add the “Not Made for Kids” label to the video, he did not age gate it,** assuming that censoring the explicit scenes would be enough to satisfy YouTube.**
Guy made an assumption about the rules and lost his account, no different from posting on any other website. If you are going to base your career on an online account you had better be 100% fucking sure about the rules before you post anything publicly to that account.
We all break tons of rules at work all the time. It would make sense to take down the one video he screwed up, not ruin him.
Agreed, and before terminating an account above some threshold size (say top 5%) there should be a human review or confirmation. But this is not surprising or even unexpected behaviour from YouTube. There are loads of horror stories from users who get their account shut down for ‘minor’ or accidental infractions. If a user is going to rely on a service with a history of unsympathetic and unpredictable enforcement then they should always take the most cautious approach when uploading.
you had better be 100% fucking sure about the rules
Generally true, but I have the impression YouTube has a history of being inconsistent with rules and punishing innocent creators, which would make it difficult to have any idea what the rules are.
Which is why a user who relies on YouTube so much should be taking the most conservative interpretation of the rules possible. There are several pages (reachable from the upload wizard) that talk about what may or may not constitute age-restricted content. Implied sexuality is on that list and if the video he uploaded contained even a censored version a sex scene in Hellraiser then that should have been a red flag for him.
I upload rarely enough that the upload wizard looks different pretty much every time I use it but the not-for-kids and age-restriction options are pretty prominent and both have links to gotcha pages that list how they should be used.
and this is why I basically never login to any google account anymore, unless it’s in a container.
It’s not YOUR account, it’s theirs.
I thought you had 3 strikes and your out? Also he could/should have been a lot more cautious:
Since the rest of the game was just a standard horror title like Resident Evil I figured it didn’t really require an age restriction, and that if anything, YouTube would just apply one later on like they always do
I actually had mine unbanned after years. I now stiffle myself heavily.
I thought you had 3 strikes and your out?
I think that’s for external claims like copyright takedowns, not violating YouTube rules.
Copyright strikes are a cumulative deal, community guidelines can be one and done depending on the nature of the video. In this case the video was not “advertiser friendly” and would have been considered inappropriate for anyone under 18. Not only does that restrict YouTube’s ability to monetize the video it also could be a liability for them should someone complain about a lack of warning/age gating.
Sounds like a brazen and cavalier flouting of the obvious rules, with the assumption that because other channels got away with it, he should too.
I am not callous, I can completely feel the pain of the loss, but at the same time it seems like a self-inflicted wound.
E flouting
Yeah, I get “there are lot of cheaters who got away with it, why am I then banned too?” energy.
Forgive me if I have no sympathy for losing work done for someone else, especially a corporation and especially one like Google.
If I paint a mural at a company’s office, if they decide to remove the wall, it sucks to see but it’s not my wall. If I tend a tree at work and they decide to cut it down, same thing. A YouTube channel is never yours.
Your analogy sucks because the example given with the mural is actually against the law if they don’t give the artist an opportunity to preserve the work.
Did they delete his videos? Or just ban the account? Can they still log in and download them?
Terminations and Suspensions by YouTube
YouTube reserves the right to suspend or terminate your Google account or your access to all or part of the Service if (a) you materially or repeatedly breach this Agreement; (b) we are required to do so to comply with a legal requirement or a court order; or © we believe that there has been conduct that creates (or could create) liability or harm to any user, other third party, YouTube or our Affiliates.
It’s in the TOS. You use their service with the full knowledge that you can loose access to that service at any time for any reason.
Content is the responsibility of the person or entity that provides it to the Service. YouTube is under no obligation to host or serve Content. If you see any Content you believe does not comply with this Agreement, including by violating the Community Guidelines or the law, you can report it to us.
The TOS explicitly states that they can stop hosting your videos whenever they want, you own the copyright to the video that you uploaded, they own the platform.
It sucks for that guy but basing your career on an online account is a huge risk, taking chances with that account is irresponsible and ultimately the decision of the user.
Anecdote about the YouTube TOS and it’s enforcement.
The following restrictions apply to your use of the Service. You are not allowed to: use the Service to view or listen to Content other than for personal, non-commercial use (for example, you may not publicly screen videos or stream music from the Service); or
My dumbshit employer (with 20 locations globally and tens of thousands of employees) decided to install TVs all over the factory floor with a looping corporate wank videos uploaded to YouTube, and played on a loop. YouTube has blacklisted the plant’s IP, it’s been impossible to watch any YouTube videos at our plant for the past 2 years. YouTube does not care who you are, they set the rules, they enforce the rule.
Oops did 10 years of hard work on a Nazi platform, and now shocked that they stole it?
i wouldnt call it a full nazi platform. grok/X would be a nazi platform.
You feel good about youraelf when you do this?
I do not understand why I’m being downvoted for my comment - Google / YouTube is a fascist, evil corporation
There are exactly zero good and magnanimous corporations, and yet if you want to live you work with what you have. Someone lost their living because of a double standard and you took the opportunity to “I told you so” as if you knew their individual failure was always going to happen. There is so little help or meaning to this action and yet now you act like you ahould be applauded.
This is, very strickly speaking, dickhead behavior. Be better.
There have been literally a thousand signs that Google is a bunch of fucks, so I am wondering why this person allowed themselves to be the frog that got boiled. Yes it’s sad, but it was absolutely telegraphed over and over again and was extremely predictable.
My sincere hope is that this will happen more and everyone will leave Google
You’re only trying to justify your own shitty behavior by saying someone else is way worse. If you honestly care about why you are being downvoted then stop hiding behind ‘being right’ and just realize you’re being an asshole. There are better ways to spread awareness and advocate for change.
I didn’t try to justify anything, and stand by my comments. It’s fine if you disagree
This isn’t about disagreeing. I already said there are zero good companies out there. I don’t actually think Google is fascist, I think they’re a corporarion who relies on Government contracts and will Kowtow to whatever power is in office. You could claim that that is worse, but the bad news is we can’t escape it so you have to think of a better strategy than “punch down on victims of capitalism because I think I’m morally superior”
Hey I think you’re real do I want to respond.
You’re right, Google is evil. And getting your channel banned without process or warning is common when expected on yt. That’s all true.
But somebody still lost their primary source of income. This is going to make their life materially bad. Humans empathize with each other, so even though they were supporting a platform and company that doesn’t care about them, it’s still sad to see a fellow human being hurt.
Please stop with this nonsense. It diminishes the gravity of the word “fascism”.
sus ass response ^ to any accusation of fascism, especially in 2026, and extra especially in defense of google/youtube who for years and years now have been arguably the largest and most well funded nazi propaganda operation in history with their algos leaning literally everyone’s accounts to further and further right wing extremist content. nevermind the obvious and recent immediate gulf of america change or inaugural ‘donation’.
sus ass.
They literally removed the phrase “don’t be evil,” and they bow to the head Fascist. What more proof does anyone need?
Because this isn’t a situation of fascism at all, even if Google is fascist in general.
A fascist player on one side of any transaction makes it fascism
A poor understanding of issues and concepts makes for a useless and unpopular contribution.
Not if you’d done backups …
They’re losing the monetization. Not sure any 3-2-1 strategy can help with that
“Beyond losing my income, I’m also losing 10 years of hard work and over 3,000 videos. The emotional impact is huge. Those videos represent a big part of my life, and losing them hurts more than I can describe."
Sounds like 3-2-1 would have helped in this case.
“hard work” bring the views and subscribers. I’m sure they have copies of all the videos.
Well, backups would have saved his content, but for what viewer base? How is he supposed to use his backups to get his viewer base and income back? It took 10 years to get that.
YouTube/Google is the main or only platform for many content creator.
Easier said than done, but: don’t put all eggs in one basket. If the viewer base is following a creator through a mix of channels (YouTube, Mastodon, Vimeo, RSS, newsletter…) then it’s easier to notify people “hey I moved to Vimeo/Nebula since YouTube kicked me out, follow me there…”
You just named several platforms with about 7 users each. Would have to be using xitter and twitch, maybe instagram. And obviously tiktok.
See anything in common between those platforms?
Right, I omitted some toxic platforms.
Twitch might be the least toxic, yet owned by Amazon.
he dint branch out to twitch, or similar even, meant for games?
Oh yeah, absolutely. I do feel lucky that the majority of the creators I like are on alternative platforms. I know a lot of creators do just use YouTube though. Some of them have even had their personal Google account deleted because of their attached YouTube account.
Unfortunately, even if a lot of viewers follow you on other platforms, creators tend to lose a huge amount of viewers since many do not.
