YouTube Demonetization Scandal Gaining Traction

By Wayne Pac

A popular libertarian YouTube video maker, Philip DeFranco, posted a video recently talking about how his videos have been demonetized. The rundown was that according to the content policies on YouTube, creators can have their videos demonetized for not being “advertiser friendly”, or alternatively, having crude language. Content creators can also have their videos demonetized if they talk about topics pertaining to war, tragedies, political correctness, and more. Philly D then went into more depth in the video, talking more about how “It’s their right, since it’s their platform,” but then saying that “it’s also a form of censorship.”

A few hours later, Philly D released another video about the recent public statements from YouTube. He went on to talk about how he appealed a few videos and they were outright refused, but then put back on monetization. DeFranco went into depth some more talking about what he thought was going on, and about how it wasn’t until just recently that YouTubers became aware their videos were being demonetized without specific notice, so they could have been potentially losing out on tons of advertising revenue. He also spoke about how a lot of people are saying YouTube and other companies such as Twitter are trying to censor people that go against the Social Justice Warrior left. Phil made a different point that it isn’t just those people that are getting censored but also people talking about other things much less politicized such as “acne care.” He claimed that Youtube wasn’t trying to attack a small group of people, but were instead “painting a broad stroke over everything, f*cking up the details”.

The incident blew up on Twitter with the hashtag #YoutubeIsOverParty; many YouTubers and conservatives such as Paul Joseph Watson expressed distaste for youtube’s content policies. Other content creators such as Chris Ray Gun and Sargon of Akkad made videos pertaining to YouTube’s content policies as well.

Philly D contributes a good perspective, and it is something to think about. Personally, I think that companies like YouTube and Twitter do go out of their way to try and censor people that don’t line up politically with their views. But something to note is YouTube could possibly be doing this not to censor people, but they could be doing this to make more money for themselves and not have to pay the content creators as much. The videos that do get demonetized still run advertisements on the page, and sometimes in the videos themselves. So it’s obvious that YouTube is still making money, but the content creators aren’t getting paid for those views. Overall, the conservatives of social media are familiar with Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook attacking them by banning them from platforms, turning off advertisement revenue, or just outright deleting posts. It has been happening for a while now, and it’s not until recently that it has been affecting a larger part of the population that uses social media.

It’s entirely in these companies’ rights to censor people, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be backlash. Especially when they claim to provide a platform that gives voice to many different people, but turn around and do things like this. Many people such as Philly D are wising up to the bigger picture, and over time, many more people will continue to realize the way that YouTube and other websites like Twitter, and Facebook operate regarding political views. It’s a shame it is taking so long for them to get this far, but at least the growing majority of users and creators are understanding.