If you run a growing Youtube channel and have been doing so for a few years, chances are you’ve been slapped with a strike or two over the years. It’s also very likely that the strikes and warnings received made no real sense to you, which is precisely what mega Youtuber CoryxKenshin is going through at the moment. With over 14 million subscribers on the platform, Corey recently had one of his videos age-restricted, and when browsing other channels playing the same game as him, Corey quickly noticed his channel was the only one affected by the age-gating. Corey then did what most Youtubers do when things like this happen; he clicked the appeal button and presented his case.
Now, most creators who have gone through this process will know that Youtube’s appeal process is literally like playing roulette. Not only are the chances high you won’t have a clue why it happened in the first place (Youtube never lets you know), but the outcome of the appeal usually makes no sense either and, even worse, there doesn’t appear to be an actual human involved in the process whatsoever, which means you’re likely in the hands of a badly scripted algorithm. So why are we bringing this up on a website about gambling? Well, because it affects us too and most other channels in the gambling category. Some have their channels completely removed, others are bullied and harassed with strikes every other month, leaving their channels crippled. We say “most” though, because there also appears to be a favouritism aspect involved when it comes to how Youtube’s policy team enforces the rules.
But don’t just take our word for it – though we will get into it a bit more in detail later. Another big Youtuber by the name of Charlie (Penguinz0) published a reaction video soon after Corey’s video went live. In it, Charlie makes some pretty interesting points whilst also sharing some of his own experiences dealing with Youtube. Charlie kicks off by saying…
Yesterday a very popular Youtuber named Corey posted an absolute bombshell of a video, accusing Youtube of some awful things and explained the whole situation that led to the claims. And he does not hold back. The gloves were off and the chef’s hat was on because he just started cooking their ass. Now, of course, it’s not unusual for a Youtuber to make a video criticising the platform. It happens every day because Youtube is a company that very very rarely gets anything right, so it’s constantly catching more shit than a Walmart toilet. And rightfully so.
But even with hourly uploads of everything wrong with Youtube, the problems that Corey highlights are some that I haven’t ever really seen discussed before. The video is titled Youtube: Racism and Favoritism. It was actually the number one trending all day yesterday, and right now it’s the number two, which means this is the front page of Youtube. This is the number one video on Youtube, so I bet they’re thrilled about that.
In his video, Corey outlines three possible conclusions he believes to be potential problems, where it’s either the Youtube policy team playing favourites, members of the policy team being racist, or some combination of both. Charlie reacted to these conclusions by saying…
I think most people have been aware of favouritism on Youtube for quite a while. You know, it’s not exactly like the Krabby Patty secret formula. It’s not hush hush. I think everyone has recognised that there is some level of favouritism on the platform. So favouritism is something that people have been loosely aware of for a long time, and also when it comes to, you know, mainstream media sources. Like late-night hosts have much more leeway than an average Youtuber. They can say and do a lot of things that get normal Youtubers demonetized or age-restricted, or straight-up striked. And that doesn’t apply to the big boys in the scene. So favouritism is something I think most people know exists on Youtube that’s not like a conspiracy theory.
Charlie then goes on to talk about another flaw of Youtube; its appeal system which content creators are able to use whenever they receive a warning, strike or ban…
I want to talk about something in particular, though, the appeal system. Corey mentions that after appealing, he was denied, and rejected pretty quickly. That’s the norm. I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve ever even heard about an appeal being overturned. That just never happens. The only time an appeal doesn’t lead to rejection is when you make a trending hashtag about it on Twitter. You make a big hoopla on Twitter and then Youtube will go to your appeal and make it in your favour. But if you don’t do that, if you don’t stir up a shitstorm and start throwing sand in Youtube’s face on Twitter, they won’t bother.
I’m very confident that there is no human being in the review process for appeals. In fact, I would wager my anal virginity that there is no human being that looks at appeals, and if I am wrong I fully invite the Youtube policy head to come raw dog me. I am so fucking confident that there is no human being that looks at those appeals, because they always, almost always end in rejection, and standing with the initial decision. Even when it’s blatantly wrong. The algorithm makes mistakes, but the appeal is supposed to bring a human into the equation, to look at it, investigate the case and decide whether or not it was an algorithmic error or correct enforcement. And there are times where it’s just outright incorrect. Just outright wrong, and they will still stand with that decision. So I just don’t think that the appeal system works. That needs a drastic overhaul asap.
In his video, Charlie also brings up a number of examples of strikes that should just not have happened. There are also ridiculous examples on Youtube’s support account on Twitter, such as the guy eating candy and receiving a strike for being in breach of the “dangerous act” policy.
Running our own channel, and a reasonably large one too, we experienced the exact thing ourselves throughout the years. There are periods when strikes hit left and right, and then there are times when everything flows smoothly. But rarely do the strikes and warnings make any sense. Youtube never communicates exactly what the issue is, so there is never a way for content creators to learn. In fact, when you’re hit with a strike, you’re not even able to review the video yourself as it’s deactivated altogether.
Knowing many streamers and content creators in the gambling world, we know many have to go through the hassle of being bullied and harassed by Youtube. Some have even had their channels taken away from them, forcing them to start from scratch. For no apparent reason, a completely random video, even going back years, may be falsely flagged, leaving you with the flawed appeal system as your only hope. The last time he appealed one of our strikes back in May, the video was, to our big surprise, reinstated just a couple of minutes after. The last time we were not as lucky, making us unable to upload anything for a week.
Then there is the favouritism that Corey and Charlie brought up, which, we too have seen first-hand. Although no one knows for sure since Youtube never explains in detail how its ever-growing list of policies is enforced, it’s agreed in the community that content creators are not allowed to link to casinos directly. Linking to one’s own website is fine, but not directly linking to a real money gambling site (although Youtube’s policy team doesn’t seem to have a clue about their own policies either).
Now, in spite of this, there are particular casino streamers who are still able to link directly to casinos without facing any harassment from Youtube. These are big channels, so to claim that they have gone under the radar would be ridiculous, especially since it’s been like this for years. Some casino channels are regularly bullied by Youtube’s strike system, whilst others are not. In other words, for many creators, it’s exhausting trying to guess how youtube will handle content.
