YouTube is revisiting its policy on the use of profanity in videos after facing backlash from creators. The company recently announced that it will be “making some adjustments” to its profanity policy, which was implemented in November. Under the current policy, ads are limited or removed on videos that contain swear words within the first 15 seconds or have frequent usage of profanity throughout. The policy also guarantees that videos with swearing in the first seven seconds or videos that are primarily about swearing will be completely demonetized.
The issue with the policy is not just the content but its application to videos that were uploaded before the rule was in effect. Old videos from channels like RTGame were demonetized, the creators have no way to appeal these decisions and YouTube is not allowing them to edit the videos to comply with the rules.
One of the major issues with YouTube’s current profanity policy is the lack of clear communication with creators. Many creators are not informed about the policy changes or what specific actions led to their videos being demonetized. Additionally, there seems to be inconsistency in the enforcement of the policy, with some videos being flagged while others are not.
Even videos that were made to comply with the rules, such as a video criticizing the policy, have lost ad revenue. YouTube has not yet announced what specific changes will be made to the policy, so it is uncertain if these issues will be addressed. As a result, creators may have to be more cautious with their use of profanity in videos and some may even start to reduce their dependence on YouTube as a source of income.
