We mentioned before that Linus Tech Tips had his videos demonetized for mentioning coronavirus, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. It turns out that every YouTube content creator who dares mention coronavirus in any capacity, whether simply saying “corona” or “corona-chan” or “coronavirus”, will lead to the video being instantly demonetized.
Content creator David Pakman informed his audience about the demonetization on March 2nd, 2020.
All coronavirus YouTube content is being algorithmically demonetized as “not advertiser safe.” Nice, right?
— David Pakman (@dpakman) March 2, 2020
This was happening to both big and small YouTube accounts alike.
So I watched a YouTube video who said “the thing we can’t talk about” because of the corona virus is mentioned, then the video is demonetized.
— Michael Muldoon (@MSquaredFL) March 3, 2020
I like how computer youtubers are using the term “human malware” to describe corona virus, in a way that doesnt get them demonetized. LOL
— TechhX (@TechhX) March 4, 2020
And no, not even mainstream news outlets are being spared. According to the social media manage for Fox 10 in Phoenix, Arizona, even their videos are being demonetized.
.@YouTube has demonetized every single video of ours that references coronavirus in the headline and our tags. We’ve tried getting around it by using COVID-19 or CV but nothing works. Absolutely absurd. https://t.co/5kDUrrQgXn
— Alexa (@alexarvagnozzi) March 4, 2020
Angry Joe Vargas provided some context for the demonetization, showcasing a report from a YouTube staffer who demonetized one of his videos after manually reviewing it. It turns out that YouTube is labeling the mention of the coronavirus as “discussions of modern acts of terror” and “controversial social issues”.
LOL! Can’t talk about the Coronavirus on Youtube anymore. It’s considered an “Act of Terror, an event resulting in the catastrophic loss of human life, or controversial social issue.”
Thank you to our Mobile Infantry Supporters so we don’t have to be as worried about this crap! pic.twitter.com/sTeMu0qa8Y
— Joe Vargas (@AngryJoeShow) March 3, 2020
If you’re unable to view the image in the tweet, you can view a larger version of it below.
In the message as to why the video was demonetized, it states…
“Discussions of modern acts of terror, events resulting in the catastrophic loss of human life, or controversial social issues”.
So basically, informing people about public events being cancelled, movie premieres being postponed, conventions being cancelled, and various cities going on lockdown after being quarantined is considered a “sensitive issue” that cannot be monetized.
This basically means that if you make a living providing people with news and information about such events, those videos won’t be monetized, and likely won’t make it into the recommended feed either.
Worse yet is that the coronavirus is not slowing down.
If you check the stats in the live video feed from Roylab Stats, the infected and death toll just keep going up.
YouTube’s attempt at silencing content creators by demonetizing their content is basically more dangerous than the virus itself, since a lot of people will stop discussing it and thus people may be under the impression it’s not as bad as it really is.
Nevertheless, this is what happens when a corporation has total control over the world’s most viewed video content platform and can dictate what you can and cannot know about world events and deadly outbreaks.
(Thanks for the news tip Harrison Bergeron and Clownfish TV)
