YouTube Engages In Crypto Banning Controversy

The undeclared war between Google and Bitcoin, which revolves mainly around the mega-corporation’s intent to obtain quantum supremacy that could disrupt Bitcoin’s core cryptographical feature, has taken another turn. YouTube, a once independent video-sharing platform that was acquired by Google in 2006 for $1.6 billion, began massively removing the content related to cryptocurrencies, which caused an uproar among the crypto streamers with well-established channels and hundreds of thousands of followers.

How the situation unfolded

Chris Dunn, a reputable crypto YouTuber, whose channel is being watched by more than 200 thousand people, was the first to raise the alarm about platform removing most of his videos without any prior notice. In his Twitter post, which gathered nearly a thousand re-tweets, the blogger informed the readers that YouTube flagged the majority of his content as “harmful or dangerous” and also categorized it, for some reason, as a “sale of regulated goods.”

As it turned out, Dunn was a harbinger of massive censorship on the part of YouTube, directed against the popular and the relatively unknown cryptocurrency channels alike. Such an atrocious act was instantly labeled a “crypto purge” since dozens of channels, with hundreds of hours of video content, got an unexpected scolding.

After December 23, the day when Dunn’s channel got censored, many crypto influencers began reporting about YouTube removing their videos or even freezing their channels altogether. Moreover, some crypto bloggers even received strikes, which is a form of punishment imposed by the platform on streamers who violate its policies. Receiving a strike entails serious consequences for the content creator. In some cases, the influencers could be disallowed to take any action, like uploading videos or responding to comments, for a week. In the worst-case scenario, which usually happens when a streamer gets two or more strikes within a period of three months, he either receives a prolonged posting ban or even suffers a termination of a channel.

For many of these bloggers, their activity on YouTube, particularly the real-time engagement that generates donations from viewers, is the main, if not the only, source of income. Therefore, even a weekly withholding of the account could have hampered their financial wellbeing.

The thoughts about migration and YouTube’s excuses

Naturally, such an unmitigated gall on the part of YouTube has spurred the discussion with the crypto community about the necessity to take the content creating talents elsewhere.

There is already a decent number of decentralized streaming and content publishing platform like Steemit, and its subsidiary DTube, LBRY, etc., which, understandably, provide for virtually no censorship whatsoever, along with a lucrative monetization scheme, where influencers are rewarded for their efforts in exchangeable cryptocurrencies. However, the problem with such platforms is that they still have relatively small pools of active users, which severely limits the earning potential for streamers. Whereas YouTube affords access to a virtually unlimited audience.

It took YouTube a few days to respond to the barrage of inquiries and complaints about unjustified content removal. Apparently, they couldn’t come up with a better excuse than saying that it all happened due to an error over the course of the review process and that all videos should be restored asap. Yet still, many bloggers claim that even after some time following the official statement, their videos remain absent. All in all, even when this situation gets resolved, it will surely leave a bad aftertaste.

Author: Alex Paulson for Crypto-Rating.com