YouTube has one of the most convoluted and complicated strike system of any media platform, but the company is trying to fix that. Currently, strikes can be applied for copyright (by an alleged copyright holder) or for breaking YouTube's community guidelines. Each is unique and has different effects on your channel. A Creator blog on Tuesday announced that YouTube will simplify it's community guideline strikes.
"We've worked with creators to understand what's working and what's not, and you told us that consistent enforcement, clear policies, and transparency about the impact of a strike are most important," YouTube said.
After February 25, the first community guidelines strike on your channel will only result in a warning, without any impact on your channel. This is a reasonable change that many creators will be happy to see. Originally, your first strike would keep you from streaming on YouTube Live for two weeks, which can be detrimental to content creators who live off of their channel's revenue. Unfortunately, false community guidelines strikes happen often, like over the weekend when channels using the term "CP" were accidentally labeled as having "child porn."
The biggest change is the standardization of YouTube's community guidelines strike system. After your first "freebie" strike, you'll start receiving channel penalties for breaking the rules. The first will keep you from live streaming for two weeks. If you receive another strike in 90 days, you won't be able to upload to your channel for two weeks. The blog also claims that when you receive a ban, the email will be more detailed and actually explain what you've done wrong.
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These are good steps, but they aren't nearly enough to fix the system. In an age where the recommended tab can cause a video to go viral, creators are still a victim to the algorithm. Even if a video manages to survive the gauntlet of zeros and ones, their channel can be annihilated by a copyright strike.
The copyright system on YouTube is a mess; copyright holders and trolls can hold YouTubers content and channels for ransom. When a claim is made by a third-party like Universal Media Group, they can have the video taken down. If the YouTuber disputes the claim, the third-party can appeal again. If this happens three times, the channel receives a copyright strike and the video is deleted. If the YouTuber wants to fight back, they have to take the third-party to court, and many can't afford to face off against a media conglomerate.
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Steven Asarch is a tech reporter for Newsweek currently based in New York City. In high school, he started stand-up ... Read more
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