Crypto YouTubers are greeting the holidays with reports that their content appears to have been censored by the platform.
In a tweet published on Dec. 23, Chris Dunn — a crypto YouTuber with 210,000 subscribers and almost 7.5 million channel views — claimed that:
“@YouTube just removed most of my crypto videos citing “harmful or dangerous content” and ‘sale of regulated goods’… it’s been 10 years of making videos, 200k+ subs, and 7M+ views. WTF are you guys doing @TeamYouTube?!”
In a separate tweet on Dec. 23, crypto education channel Node Investor wrote:
“Merry Christmas to you also @YouTube. Apparently a video I posted two years ago on researching crypto’s is now illegal…Rules are changing.”
Strike Action
Screenshot allegedly showing YouTube’s notice to Chris Dunn. Source: @ChrisDunnTV
In Chris Dunn’s case, a screenshot of the alleged intervention by YouTube apparently indicates that he was served with a “strike” action against at least seven videos, each of which have been designated as “harmful or dangerous content.”
These videos’ titles include “50 Crypto Trading & Investing Lessons from the Past 5 Years,” “Is Bitcoin Really Money?” and “The Future of Initial Coin Offerings.”
According to a second screenshot shared by Dunn — apparently showing a further explanatory notice from YouTube — a “strike” against a channel prevents the YouTuber from uploading, posting or streaming content for one week. A second strike extends this restriction to a two-week period, while a third within any 90-day period results in the permanent removal of the channel.
Node Investor’s tweet reveals a similar notification — apparently pertaining to just one video — indicating that the content has been removed due to a violation of the platform’s “sale of regulated goods policy.”
CryptoX has reached out to Chris Dunn and Node Investor and will update this article should any further information be forthcoming.
Platforms’ evolving crypto stance
Even as YouTube does not ostensibly restrict legitimate crypto-related content, cybersecurity researchers have recently detected abuses of the platform for the purposes of spreading cryptojacking malware.
At press time, YouTube has not responded to CryptoX’s request for comment.
Once blanket-banned on Facebook, Google and Twitter, restrictions on blockchain-related advertisements have now gradually been lifted, and some provisions have been introduced to nuance the policy and permit most forms of crypto-related content, except for misleading or scammy ads.
CryptoX has itself faced a brief stint of censorship from Facebook — the first social media platform to initially ban cryptocurrency-related ads — soon after the CT Facebook page published a documentary on the use of cryptocurrencies in the adult entertainment industry.
