Self-education has become mainstream now. Whenever someone wants to learn about a new subject, they are most likely to go search it in Google or watch videos on YouTube. Same goes for educating yourself about cryptocurrencies. YouTube search shows thousands of videos related to Bitcoin and other alternatives.
However, in 2019, there was major media coverage about YouTube blocking crypto-related videos. Bloggers like ChrisDunnTV and Crypto Tips who have spent years on gaining their subscribers complained about numerous videos or even the entire channels being shut down.
The official response of the video streaming platform’s representative denied any specific stance on the crypto industry. They explained that sometimes they might make the wrong call and if they do, they reinstate the video very quickly including re-reviews as a result of the author objecting to the video removal. So, what are the true reasons behind YouTube deleting videos connected with crypto? No one can tell for sure, but there’s quite a bunch of different theories on that. Let’s get deeper into the most popular ones.
Reason #1. Renewed Terms of Service
Every 30 seconds users upload roughly 185 hours of video content. That certainly says a lot about the popularity of this media platform. This is why many public figures have been voicing their concerns about the monopoly issues. Since many people don’t see any viable reasons why one Bitcoin video is being deleted when the other one stays online, rumors are spreading that such large companies are simply enjoying the censorship. At the end of the day, they are just private companies, and we are only using their services. If you don’t like their set of policies, you might just go to another video streaming platform. Meanwhile, since YouTube is so insanely popular, a vast amount of the audience prefers to have their accounts exactly on YouTube.
So since YouTube is a private company, they are free to set whatever rules they want. Of course, those mostly go in line with the US media laws. At the same time, if you read carefully the Terms of Service, some of their statements might appear disturbing. For example, the moderators have the right to delete your account as they see fit in case if, in their opinion, providing services to you is no longer commercially viable. At the same time, they deny any responsibility for the content shared via YouTube. So why being so hard on some channels’ activities telling about Bitcoin essentials or the ONT coin potential when politically controversial videos showing mass protests and related violence on the streets are still online?
In the same fashion, some prominent figures like Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse filed lawsuits regarding the crypto scam ads which were also not blocked by YouTube when simple educational videos were (perhaps those ads were commercially viable). Indeed, the ad which says “Win 10,000 ETH from Vitalik Buterin” looks suspicious. Yet, ads like that are distributed via automated algorithms and hence, they might have been showing along with crypto-related videos for weeks and months straight. This point leads us to the next alleged reason why YouTube blocks crypto-related videos.
Reason #2. Faulty AI algorithm
Of course, to prevent really bad guys from using the video streaming giant for the expression of hate and other criminal actions, content must be somehow filtered before millions of people across the world will see it. Due to the enormous amount of content being constantly uploaded, YouTube uses an AI algorithm to sort it out. And, since we’re still quite early into the AI age, some mishaps might happen as well.
As we mentioned before, YouTube has been reportedly deleting crypto-related videos which neither promoted the third-party services nor included any links to crypto trading apps. Another possible reason for that is the faulty AI algorithm which put red flags on the videos while hardly even “understanding” what they were all about. For example, when the YouTube team tried to separate adult content from widely appropriate one, they marked crypto videos as “not for children”. A similar algorithm might have been used on Instagram at the time of scandalous removals of the body-positive images.
The trusted cryptocurrency-related media site CoinDesk also suffered from deleting its videos. YouTube suspended their channel and also cut off the online broadcast daily show “All About Bitcoin“. Among the reasons listed in an official email, the YouTube team mentioned: “content that encourages illegal activities” which they view as “harmful and dangerous”. Despite the ability to appeal for the restoring of the video, numerous vloggers mentioned that their claims were left without an answer. However, later some of the videos were indeed reinstated, while some of them were gone forever.
Reason #3. Censorship
This reason is one of the less studied. YouTube officially denies censorship while various media influencers share their opinion (including talks in YouTube videos) that the entire Web 2.0 is full of censorship. Bloggers point out the blocking of Donald Trump’s account by Twitter and a number of other cases. For instance, the global public backlash on YouTube for censoring hundreds of LGBTQ accounts by disabling their videos for views.
Same thing might apply to crypto videos since they have been flagged as “dangerous content” and “selling regulated goods”. Truth is, there will always be a fine line on sensitive subjects like social justice and political beliefs. The subject that appeals dangerous for someone might be freedom of speech for another one. More and more content publishers are waiting impatiently for the global adoption of Web 3.0 which will be based on blockchain and, supposedly, won’t harm the freedom of expression.
