YouTube Bans Multiple Channels Over ‘Link To Unknown Accounts’, Says Report; Creators Flag AI Flaw
One creator, running the Old Money Luxury channel, shared a video message on X, appealing to YouTube to restore the channel, which had over 2,30,000 subscribers.
YouTube channels of several prominent creators have been banned in the last few days, reportedly due to flaws in the video-sharing platform’s artificial intelligence (AI) driven moderation system. Affected creators took to social media platforms to claim that they were “wrongfully” terminated earlier this week.
This followed after YouTube’s AI-based content moderation system “falsely connected these channels to a user completely unassociated with them,” creator-oriented software platform VidIQ said on Friday.
“Some of these channels were more than nine years old with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. YouTube has since reinstated these channels, but only after they used their online followings to get enough attention on the matter,” the company said on X platform.
VidIQ, which offers tools for creators and brands to grow on YouTube, urged users to back up their content through Google Takeout. “If you're a creator: back up your data through Google Takeout today, it might be the only proof you have that your channel ever existed,” it warned. The platform also shared a screenshot of YouTube’s purported message to one such affected channel that was terminated.
“We have terminated your channel because we concluded that it was linked to a channel that was terminated for having three or more Copyright strikes,” the message read. It also gave information on the linked channel. It also added that a new channel can't be created without the restoration of the linked channel.
Many creators voiced their disappointment, calling out YouTube on X and other platforms.
One such channel, Old Money Luxury, was also affected. Its creator shared a video message on X, appealing to YouTube to restore the channel, which had over 2,30,000 subscribers.
VidIQ’s post with over 20,000 views has nearly 50 comments, with mostly affected users claiming they faced a similar action from YouTube.
Another YouTube channel, ‘tarkin’ with over 88,000 subscribers, faced a similar ban, but was later restored after YouTube reviewed its appeal.
Many creators pointed out that YouTube falsely claimed that their channel was linked to a Japanese account, which had no connection with them.
Meanwhile, TeamYouTube, the X account dedicated to sharing YouTube updates with users, has replied to some of the creators.
