YouTube may suspend accounts, temporarily or permanently, from their social networking service. Suspensions of high-profile individuals from YouTube are unusual and when they occur, often attract attention in the media.
| Individual/account | Description | Date of suspension | Reason for suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| That Guy with the Glasses | Channel run by American comedian and internet personality Doug Walker of Nostalgia Critic | Copyright infringement.[1] After launching a That Guy with the Glasses website in 2008, his content returned to YouTube in 2009 as part of a deal between the site and Blip.tv,[2] the website's primary video host.[3] | ||
| Wael Abbas | Egyptian journalist, blogger, and human rights activist | Complaints about graphic content, particularly those depicting tortures.[4] | ||
| Sturmgeist89 / NaturalSelector89 | Two channels run by a Finnish student who committed the Jokela school shooting in 2007, the shooter's first channel, NaturalSelector89 was supended in October 2007 and his final one in November 2007, the day when the shooting happened. The shooter died later the same day. His last video was called "Jokela High School Massacre – 11/7/2007" with the image of the school, followed by two red images of the shooter holding a pistol.[5] | Oct 19, 2007 & Nov 7, 2007 | School shooting and repeated violations of YouTube community guidelines | |
| Tony48219 | American YouTuber and commentator | Apr 10, 2009 | On April 10, 2009, Anthony entered MacKenzie Fine Arts Center where he was a student and made his way towards a classroom. There, he found Asia McGowan, a fellow YouTuber who was bullied by him, in a classroom. Powell killed McGowan by ambushing with a shotgun. Afterwards, he took his own life by shooting himself in the head with a shotgun. Most of his channels are suspended and terminated by an unknown user after the shooting.[6] | |
| Elliot Rodger | English-American mass murderer who was responsible for the 2014 Isla Vista killings | May 23, 2014 | Rodger known for killing six people and injuring fourteen near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara in Isla Vista, California before taking his own life on May 23, 2014, and also known for being widely considered the founding father of the modern incel movement. | |
| Evalion | Canadian internet personality | Eva Lion was commonly referred to as "the best troll in the history of the Internet" or simply a racist, anti-Semitic, misogynistic and homophobic and neo-Nazi.[7] | ||
| PewDiePie | Swedish YouTuber and live gaming streamer | Feb 13, 2017 | In February 2017, PewDiePie, the most subscribed YouTuber at the time featured two paid individuals on Fiverr came under fire for posting video that YouTube deemed "Anti-Semitic" and "hate-speech". These videos included references and jokes about Adolf Hitler as well as two Indian men holding a sign stating "Death to all Jews".[8] Maker Studios dropped PewDiepie and YouTube subsequently canceled season two of its Red series Scare PewDiePie, and removed the star from the Google Preferred advertising program.[9] With over 53 million subscribers to his main channel, the YouTuber has remained both popular and financially successful. | |
| Uriminzokkiri | North Korean state-run website | Violating YouTube's community guidelines[10] | ||
| Toy Freaks | Single father of two | After being highlighted in a Medium article, the top-100 channel, which had over 8 million subscribers at the time,[11] was terminated for violating YouTube's child endangerment policy, which they had recently revised in response to media coverage of supposedly child-friendly videos containing disturbing content on YouTube.[12] | ||
| Logan Paul | American Internet personality, actor and musician | Paul has been involved in several controversies, most notably in relation to a trip to Japan in December 31 2017, during which he visited the Aokigahara forest (a notorious suicide site), filmed himself finding the corpse of a suicide victim, and uploaded the footage to his YouTube channel.[13] YouTube suspended all advertising on Paul's channels due to his pattern of behavior.[14] The suspension was lifted 18 days later.[15] | ||
| Government of Pakistan | Official account for the Pakistani government | Suspended for copyright infringement. Account restored a day later.[16] [17] | ||
| Amos Yee | Singaporean convicted sex offender and former blogger, YouTuber, and child actor | May 5, 2018 | Beginning in 2017, Yee began uploading YouTube videos and posts on social media defending pedophilia and child pornography. He argues that a child should be able to be in a relationship with an adult and should have sex with adults, just as long as the child consents. Yee's also heavily against the stigma against pedophiles, saying that they aren't comparable to child rapists.[18] In May 2018, his YouTube channel was removed for violating community guidelines, Twitter suspended his account, and his Patreon account was shut down two months later. As of December 2018, Yee's WordPress blog and personal Facebook page were shut down. | |
| DaddyOFive | Canadian Family vlogger | Mike and Heather were arrested in August 2017 for the abuse that took place on the YouTube channel. They took an Alford plea in September 2017 in regards to two counts per person of Maryland state child neglect charges and received supervised probation for five years. Mike and Heather ceased creating content on Mike's channel DaddyOFive as a result of court-ordered probation, but began producing similar content on the family's new channel called FamilyOFive, which was terminated by YouTube in July 2018 following renewed interest in the family. However, Mike and Heather have an official website, and a gaming channel on Twitch.[19] | ||
| The Alex Jones Channel | American conspiracy theorist and owner of a website InfoWars | Terminated for violating hate speech and harassment guidelines, following similar bans done by Facebook, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts around this time.[20] His channel was initially just suspended from doing live broadcasts for 90 days, and deleted four of his videos, on July 25 for violating their policies regarding hate speech and graphic content.[21] His follow-up channel "Resistance News" was terminated on March 19, 2019.[22] | ||
| Etika | American YouTuber and live streamer | Oct 25, 2018 | Between October 2018 and May 2019, Amofah demonstrated signs of mental distress, threatening to commit suicide on multiple occasions, and was hospitalized several times. During this period, Amofah uploaded pornography to the EWNetwork channel, resulting in its termination; he then posted statements on social media alluding to suicide. After apologizing, Amofah created another channel, "EtikaFRFX", which was terminated for identical reasons. He proceeded to display erratic behavior publicly, including posting cryptic messages online and streaming himself being detained by the police. | |
| TwinzTV | American Prank-themed YouTube channel | Oct 28, 2018 | Terminated for unnamed reasons. Earlier that year, YouTube moderation deleted over a hundred videos on TwinzTV for promoting the ghostwriting service "EduBirdie", which violated their policy.[23] [24] | |
| ラファエル Raphael | Japanese male YouTuber, businessman, investor, author, and former member of the Self-Defense Forces | Jan 22, 2019 | On January 22, 2019, the Raphael Channel account was suspended by YouTube management. The reason for this was that YouTube's terms of service were changed in January, and all videos from the past three years were checked, and it was assumed that they were deleted because they violated the new terms but remained on the channel.[25] | |
| Austin Jones | American convicted sex offender and former musician | Feb 6, 2019 | Jones pleaded guilty to a single count of "receipt of child pornography" on February 1, 2019, and was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on May 3, 2019.[26] After a court hearing on May 6, 2019, Jones was given permission to remain under house arrest until he reported to prison on June 28, 2019. Terminated after he pleaded guilty to child pornography offenses.[27] [28] | |
| Fantastic Adventures | Comedy skit channel | Violating child endangerment guidelines.[29] | ||
| Khá BảnH | Vietnamese YouTuber, internet personality and amateur actor | Apr 13, 2019 | On 2 April 2019, Khá Bảnh was arrested during a police raid and sentenced to 10.5 years in prison for illegal gambling. Immediately after Khá Bảnh was arrested, his YouTube channel, which at the time had more than 2 million subscribers, was terminated.[30] | |
| Steven Crowder | Canadian Right-wing comedian and commentator | Demonetized his channels for having "a pattern of egregious actions that has harmed the broader community" following a dispute between Crowder and Vox producer Carlos Maza over alleged homophobic content. YouTube initially ruled his content was "hurtful" but not in violation of its guidelines.[31] | ||
| ThuleanPerspective | Channel run by Norwegian far-right activist and black metal musician Varg Vikernes | Hate speech. Banned hours after YouTube updated its guidelines to ban white supremacist, antisemitic, and misogynistic content.[32] [33] | ||
| Soph | Canadian Right-wing comedian and commentator | Terminated for posting a video that ended with her making death threats and telling followers to cite her in their manifestos, in reference to the mass shootings attributed to 8chan earlier in the year. Her Patreon was also terminated.[34] | ||
| BriaAndChrissy, Chase Ross, Lindsay Amer, Watts The Safe Word, Celso Dulay, Chris Knight | American LGBTQ+ YouTubers and activists | Aug 14, 2019 | YouTube has received criticism from LGBTQ creators who say the platform demonetizes their videos. There was even a lawsuit filed by several creators in August.[35] Sealow explained this is not a matter of LGBTQ YouTubers posting videos about subjects that are unsuitable for some viewers, like sex or tragedy, which all creators get demonetized for.[36] According to YouTube, there is no bias against LGBTQ audience and creators, and there is no specific list to refer to when making the call about demonetization. YouTube's policies and systems only look at the content of the videos themselves.[37] | |
| 210 pro-Mainland China accounts | Suspended for involvement in "coordinated influence operations" to turn public opinion against the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.[38] | |||
| American Identity Movement | White nationalist group | Violating hate speech policies.[39] | ||
| James Allsup | American white nationalist | |||
| TRS Radio | Video channel for Neo-Nazi website The Right Stuff | |||
| VDARE TV | Video channel for far-right website VDARE | |||
| Red Ice TV | Channels run by far-right multimedia outlet Red Ice | Red Ice TV, which served as the outlet's main channel, was terminated for violating hate speech policies.[40] Their second channel, which served as a backup, was also terminated.[41] | ||
| Red Ice Media | ||||
| James Charles, FaZe Rug, FaZe Kay, Leah Ashe, and others | Multiple popular YouTubers | Accidental termination, possibly due to a bug on YouTube's end. The accounts were shortly reinstated.[42] | ||
| Owen Benjamin | American alt-right internet personality | Terminated for repeated attempts at circumventing the website's terms of service.[43] | ||
| Press TV | Iranian state-owned news network | Jan 10, 2020 | Google has deleted the YouTube account for Iran's Press TV UK channel as regional tensions continue to heighten between Tehran and Washington following the assassination of Qassem Soleimani. The page was closed on Monday evening without any warning or explanation from Google, according to Press TV UK staff who spoke to Middle East Eye. Kaballo said Press TV UK uploaded its reports and documentaries to its YouTube channel in order to provide an "alternative" perspective on stories in the UK and Europe. Google did not respond to multiple requests for comment ahead of publication.[44] | |
| America First with Nicholas J Fuentes | Channel run by American white nationalist commentator Nick Fuentes | Violating hate speech policies.[45] | ||
| TruNews | Video channel for the far-right conspiracy theorist website of the same name | Violating hate speech policies.[46] Was temporarily suspended in November 2019 after pastor and site founder Rick Wiles accused Jews of being behind former U.S. President Donald Trump's first impeachment.[47] | ||
| David Icke | English conspiracy theorist, former footballer and sports broadcaster | Promoting misleading information about the COVID-19 pandemic. YouTube a month prior banned all videos that claimed the virus was caused by 5G following a livestream where Icke did so. His Facebook profile was also deleted at the time of the termination.[48] [49] | ||
| The Iconoclast | British far-right activist | Violating hate speech policies.[50] Account was suspended in 2019, but restored on appeal.[51] | ||
| Gavin McInnes | Far-right political commentator and founder of the Proud Boys | Violating hate speech policies.[52] | ||
| Two accounts linked to American Renaissance | White nationalist and far-right personalities and institutions | Violating hate speech policies.[53] | ||
| David Duke | ||||
| NPI/Radix | ||||
| Richard Spencer | ||||
| Stefan Molyneux | ||||
| Shane Dawson | American YouTuber, actor, filmmaker, writer, and musician | July 1, 2020 | But in recent weeks, Dawson has been called to task over his past behavior, including racist sketches that featured blackface, a video that showed him sexually gratifying himself to a poster of an 11-year-old Willow Smith, racist and pedophilia videos the times he made and accusations that he worked to orchestrate the cancellation of another content creator. YouTube demonetized one of its biggest creators on Tuesday as Shane Dawson faces a reckoning for past videos which featured racist jokes and the sexualization of minors, as well as his involvement in drama from last year that nearly destroyed a beauty YouTuber's career.[54] | |
| Martin Sellner | Austrian far-right activist and leader of Identitäre Bewegung Österreich | Violating hate speech policies.[55] His account was suspended in 2019, but restored on appeal. | ||
| Wiley | British rapper, grime MC, songwriter, DJ and record producer | Banned after antisemitic rant. Banned from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in July.[56] | ||
| Cr1tikal and Markiplier | American YouTuber and live streamer & American YouTuber, actor and filmmaker | Aug 8, 2020 | On August 28, 2020, a YouTuber that goes by the name of Penguinz0, also known as Moistcr1tikal, had his "Road Rager Learns A Hard Lesson" video taken down for allegedly breaking YouTube's policy on violent or graphic content; The video in question showcased a comically staged dashcam footage of a group of people dressed up as cartoon mascots hijacking a man's vehicle. This takedown was later reinforced by YouTube's staff members, after claiming to have manually reviewed Penguinz0's appeal. On September 1, 2020, Penguinz0 pointed out on Twitter that Mark's "Try Not To Laugh Challenge #2" video has the exact same clip, yet was not taken down, albeit in a joking manner to highlight YouTube's double standards. Mark even welcomed this post, replying with "fair is fair" before receiving a warning on the aforementioned video only a few hours later.[57] On September 2, 2020, YouTube reinstated their removed videos and revoked both channels' strikes, later apologizing to all associated parties for this inconvenience on Twitter. Both Mark and Penguinz0 thanked YouTube and considered the matter closed.[58] | |
| LeafyIsHere | American former Internet celebrity, best known for his YouTube channel which focused on reaction content | Making several videos mocking Pokimane, which violated YouTube's policy on harassment and bullying.[59] | ||
| Mini Ladd | Emirati-born Northern Irish YouTuber | Sep 5, 2020 | In late June 2020, Craig was called out by two people by the names of Halley and Ash who made accusations to Craig about him manipulating the two women while he was in his twenties while the pair was underage. later his former girlfriend described their relationship as toxic and manipulative and she also addressed false rumours that Craig had never raped her. Following these allegations, Craig took an indefinite leave from YouTube and tweeted out admitting his behaviour and that he would seek therapy.[60] | |
| Peluchin Entertainment | Chilean YouTuber | Sep 29, 2020 | Matías Ignacio Vera Oyarzo became infamous for a video showing him inflicting violent, fatal abuse on his pet cat, On September 29, 2020, Peluchin Entertainment's channel was terminated due to violating YouTube's Terms of Service against animal cruelty due to Penguinz0's callout and criticism. | |
| LensCapProductions / MrAnime / MrBryko | American anime show reviewer | [61] | ||
| Baked Alaska | American far-right media personality and neo-Nazi | Unknown; believed to be caused by a video of him harassing a convenience store employee for asking him to wear a mask.[62] | ||
| Patriots' Soapbox News Network | QAnon-linked Channel | Terminated as part of a site-wide crackdown on channels that promote "conspiracy theories that have been used to justify real-world violence".[63] | ||
| ABS-CBN News and ANC 24/7 | Philippine pay television news channel | Suspension lifted one day later.[64] It is believed that the channels were hacked to upload a Ripple livestream to promote a bitcoin scam.[65] The issue was resolved several hours later. | ||
| One America News Network | American far-right pay television news channel | Violating YouTube's COVID-19 misinformation policy; suspended for 1 week and demonetized.[66] | ||
| ReeFlay | Russian former YouTuber, trash streamer and gaming creator | Dec 3, 2020 | On December 2, 2020, Stas was live streaming alongside his girlfriend, Valentina, and his friend, Marina. At the beginning of the live stream, they're seen drinking heavily while listening to music. Supposedly, a chat member donated $1,000 and wanted Stas to beat up Valentina and lock her outside. Stas and Marina attempted to bring Valentina outside, though Valentina would begin to argue with Stas while threatening him with a knife. While unseen during the stream, he reportedly slammed her to the ground to which he stripped her down to her underwear, pour cold water on her before eventually forcing her outside in the cold. The temperature that night was from -3° to -8 °C (17° to 26 °F).He was later arrested and his recent channel, "ReeFlay СТРИМЫ КАЗИНО" would be terminated on December 3, 2020. While Stas originally said he'd shown sympathy towards her death and saying he didn't mean to kill her, he would then claim that she had an intestinal problem and would cause the apartment to stink and she was a prostitute and was on drugs, saying she would have died regardless. Valentina was also allegedly pregnant at the time of her death, though the rumors were later proven false. In April of 2021, Stas was charged with involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to six years of maximum security prison. The news was heavily covered and would heavily call out Stas' actions, leading the government to investigate "trash streamers" after the incident.[67] | |
| Echo of Truth | North Korean Propaganda YouTube Channel | Dec 23, 2020 | YouTube “terminated” a North Korean channel called “Echo of Truth,” which featured a popular English-speaking host named Un A. The move drew criticism from North Korea supporters and researchers.[68] North Koreans are generally not allowed to access YouTube or any site on the World Wide Web due to political censorship, and Un A is no “ordinary” North Korean citizen. On the contrary, the original Echo of Truth channel appears to be a state media operation.[69] | |
| talkRADIO | British talk radio station | Violating YouTube's COVID-19 misinformation policy; suspended for a few hours.[70] | ||
| Donald J Trump | President of the United States | Violating YouTube's policy on violence following the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[71] | ||
| Onision | Former United States Air Forces and American YouTuber | Jan 21, 2021 | YouTuber James "Gregory" Jackson, better known by his online alias of "Onision," has been indefinitely suspended from the YouTube Partner Program[72] Recently, he was also the subject of a new Discovery+ program called . Hosted by Chris Hansen, the docuseries examines and discusses the accusations of sexual misconduct against the YouTuber.[73] | |
| Mahoto Watanabe | Former Japanese YouTuber and rapper | Jan 26, 2021 | In January 2021, Watanabe allegedly solicited nude photos from an underage fan, which subsequently caused his agency Uuum to drop him as an act and YouTube to permanently ban his channel. In March 2021, he announced he was retiring from YouTube.[74] | |
| ImJayStation | Canadian Internet personality and former YouTuber | Jan 27, 2021 | In 2020, Jason announced his girlfriend, fellow YouTuber Alexia Marano, had been killed by a drunk driver. Later content showed him visiting a memorial and attempting to contact her through Ouija.[75] Following an investigation however, it was revealed that this was a publicity stunt to gain subscribers, that Alexia was alive and well, and that Jason was intending to "resurrect" her in a later video.[76] Alexia separated from Jason and deleted her own YouTube channel, with a warrant for Jason's arrest being issued by Toronto Police due to allegations of abuse against her.[77] "ImJayStation" and "666" YouTube channels were removed from the platform for breaching their terms of service.[78] | |
| LifeSiteNews | Video channel for the far-right Catholic news site of the same name | Terminated for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines.[79] | ||
| Channels run by the Burmese military | Terminated in response to violent crackdown of protestors that occurred during the 2021 Myanmar protests.[80] | |||
| MELLSTROY СТРИМЫ | Russian-speaking Belarusian trash streamer | Mar 9, 2021 | In October 2020, during one of the streams, Andrey grabbed a girl by the head and slammed her against the table several times.[81] A criminal case was opened against the streamer under the article "Assault". In July 2021, the court sentenced Andrey to six months of correctional labor and a fine of 72 thousand rubles.[82] | |
| David Dobrik | Canadian former Viner, Internet personality and YouTuber | Mar 26, 2021 | Dobrik has produced a group of his L.A. friends called the "Vlog Squad." A report by Insider last week documented sexual-assault allegations by a woman against a former member of the Vlog Squad, Dom Zeglaitis, who said she was too drunk to consent to sex. Dobrik had shot and posted a video of the woman entering a bedroom (which he has since removed); this week, he admitted he "should have never posted it".. On March 26, 2021, it was reported that YouTube had temporarily demonetized Dobrik's and Zeglaitis's channels over the incident, citing violations of its creator responsibility policy.[83] | |
| Steven Crowder | American-Canadian conservative political commentator | Suspended for a week for disputing the 2020 United States presidential election results in Nevada. His main channel is also permanently removed from the YouTube Partner Program.[84] | ||
| Free Fire India Official | Indian free-to-play battle royale game developed and published by Garena for Android and iOS | Apr 7, 2021 | The official YouTube channel of Free Fire India has been hacked and renamed. Thereafter, YouTube deleted the channels due to community guidelines. Initially, the channels were hacked and the name of the channels was renamed. There was a new name that was related to crypto. However, the channels can come back. The game officials have to complete the required documentation to recover the account. | |
| James Charles | American beauty YouTuber and makeup artist | Apr 21, 2021 | On April 2, 2021, Charles posted a video entitled "Holding Myself Accountable" on his YouTube channel, which has now garnered over 8.5 million views. In this video, he openly admitted to engaging in flirtatious conversations with two 16-year-old boys, operating under the belief that they were older. Upon discovering their actual ages, Charles stated that he immediately blocked them, emphasizing that these exchanges should never have occurred.[85] The implications of this admission are profound, touching on issues of consent, power dynamics, and the responsibilities that come with social media fame. In response to the allegations, YouTube announced that it had temporarily demonetized Charles's channel, effectively suspending his ability to earn income from the platform. A spokesperson confirmed that the action was taken in line with YouTube's 'Creator Responsibility Policy,' which stipulates that the platform can take measures if a creator's behavior—both on and off the platform—harms users or the wider community.[86] | |
| Sebastian Gorka | Former Trump White House senior adviser and radio host | Permanent ban for violating YouTube's presidential election integrity policy [87] | ||
| Emmanuel TV | Christian television network with headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria | Apr 13, 2021 | YouTube responded to Emmanuel's terminations, stating that YouTube "prohibits content which alleges that someone is mentally ill, diseased, or inferior because of their membership in a protected group including sexual orientation".[88] | |
| EDP445 | Former american internet personality and YouTuber | Nine days before his channel was suspended, he attempted to meet what he believed to be a 13-year-old girl for sex in a vigilante sting operation ran by Chet Goldstein.[89] | ||
| Chet Goldstein | Houston-based vigilante organization Predator Poachers, which conducts sting operations on adults who seek sexual activities with minors | Terminated shortly after running his vigilante sting operation on EDP445, on the same day as him.[90] | ||
| Stevie T | Canadian YouTuber and musician | May 7, 2021 | Metal YouTuber and comedic djentyboi Stevie T had his entire library of videos deleted by a hacker, who took over the musician’s channel and started a cryptocurrency livestream. Stevie T’s fans noticed the hack happening in real time, with the YouTuber’s profile picture abruptly changing to the logo for Binance. The hacker then began live-streaming a video featuring Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (aka CZ). Fans of Stevie T began flagging the channel, which eventually was removed from YouTube.[91] | |
| Anthony Fantano | American music critic and internet personality who runs TheNeedleDrop, a YouTube channel with a tie-in website and Twitch | May 22, 2021 | Fantano ran thatistheplan, a channel devoted to memes and shitposting that in recent years took on a different tone. Fantano abruptly deleted every single videos on the channel, citing YouTube's ongoing demonetization issues.[92] | |
| Ron Johnson | U.S. Senator from Wisconsin | Suspended for a week for misinformation via promoting Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin as alternate COVID-19 treatments.[93] | ||
| RWW Blog | Video channel for monitoring site Right Wing Watch | Suspended for a day after YouTube accidentally suspended the channel for allegedly violating community guidelines. Right Wing Watch appealed to the ban which was rejected by YouTube. The channel was reinstated hours later after review.[94] | ||
| Marcelito Pomoy | Filipino singer | Suspended for violating YouTube's community guidelines following his channel getting hacked to display an Algorand bitcoin livestream.[95] | ||
| Sky News Australia | Australian right-wing news channel | Suspended for a week after uploading videos containing misleading information regarding COVID-19. The suspension also bars the YouTube channel from running its livestreams. The videos that were uploaded were removed from their YouTube channel.[96] [97] [98] | ||
| RaulZitoTV | Brazilian Live-gaming streamer | Aug 4, 2021 | Brazilian Twitch streamer Raulino de Oliveira Maciel, better known as RaulZito. The streamer was arrested by Rio de Janeiro police in late July for sexual predation of "child theater, film, and TV actors." According to the police statement, a mother told police that her son had suffered from abuse from the arrested YouTuber between February and May, with another child younger than 12 reporting having been abused as well.[99] | |
| Rand Paul | American politician serving as junior United States senator from Kentucky | Suspended for a week for posting a video claiming that face masks are ineffective, in violating guidelines on COVID-19 misinformation.[100] | ||
| Professor Waffle | Channel run by Jake Davison, perpetrator of the 2021 Plymouth shooting | Removed in the aftermath of the shooting for violating YouTube's "Offline behaviour" policy. [101] | ||
| Milo Yiannopoulos | British far-right political commentator | Aug 25, 2021 | Yiannopoulos has been accused of advocating paedophilia after the emergence of several video clips in which he said that sexual relationships between 13-year-old boys and adults can be "perfectly consensual" and positive experiences for such boys.[102] | |
| Rix | Mexican social influencer and youtuber | Sep 21, 2021 | Ricardo "N" has pleaded guilty to accusations by social media influencer Nath Campos of sexual abuse and was sentenced to three years in prison in Mexico, according to sources close to the high-profile case.[103] [104] | |
| R. Kelly | American former singer, songwriter, and record producer | R. Kelly's YouTube channel was terminated following his conviction for sex trafficking.[105] | ||
| Jair Bolsonaro | President of Brazil | Suspended for a week for violating YouTube's COVID-19 misinformation policy after saying that COVID-19 vaccine causes AIDS.[106] | ||
| Dan Bongino | American Talk show host and former United States Secret Service agent | Suspended for violating YouTube's COVID-19 misinformation policy after claiming masks are "useless" in preventing the spread of the disease. [107] | ||
| Piper Rockelle | Canadian actress, singer, YouTube creator and social media influencer | Feb 11, 2022 | YouTube indefinitely demonetized Piper Rockelle's channel and removed it from YouTube's Partner Program on Thursday after Insider emailed the company with a list of allegations against the YouTuber's mother,Tiffany Smith. Many of the allegations stemmed from a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County in January by 11 former members of Rockelle's so-called Piper Squad, a YouTube collective of other teen creators accusing Smith and her boyfriend, Hunter Hill, of exploitation and abuse.[108] The suit accused Smith of rubbing one young girl's "exposed thighs and moving her hand toward her vagina" multiple times, and "attempting to squeeze" her breasts and remarking on their size, among other allegations.[109] | |
| Israr Ahmed | Pakistani Islamic scholar, orator and theologian | Mar 31, 2022 | YouTube has taken down the official web channel of Islamic scholar Dr Ahmed over allegations of carrying anti-Semitic comments.[110] | |
| Duma TV | Russian Parliament Channel of State Duma | Terminated for violating YouTube's Terms of Service in response to 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Vyacheslav Volodin, the Duma speaker, said YouTube's move was further evidence of Washington's violation of rights and freedoms.[111] | ||
| Julien Bam | German filmmaker | Temporarily suspended after being compromised by spammers. Reinstated shortly after.[112] | ||
| A.C.E | South Korean boy band formed by Beat Interactive, and co-managed with Swing Entertainment | Apr 22, 2022 | On April 10, the quintet’s YouTube channel was seized by hackers, who went on to delete several of the group’s videos and upload their own videos before it was later deleted. According to fans who watched the takeover unfold, the hackers had uploaded content relating to cryptocurrency and Elon Musk.[113] | |
| НТВ | Russian free-to-air television channel that was launched as a subsidiary of Vladimir Gusinsky's company Media-Most | May 17, 2022 | The channels of Russian broadcaster NTV on YouTube are no longer available to residents of more than 70 countries, including all European countries, NTV's Telegram channel reported on Wednesday | |
| McCreamy | Australian Live gaming streamer | May 22, 2022 | Jay's YouTube channel got hacked and renamed as tesla live and began livestreaming deepfake Elon Musk talks about bitcoin scam cryptocurrency but later quickly reinstated within 24 hours. | |
| Owen Clough | English YouTuber | July 4, 2022 | Upon the death of the popular Minecraft YouTuber Technoblade, ItsOwen released a video that claimed to contain genuine MrBeast recordings of him speaking about the passing of Techno.[114] The recordings were not made by MrBeast but were made by Owen editing MrBeast clips and soundbites together. This video lead to the termination of Owen's channel due to misleading content. Owen begged on Twitter for YouTube to reinstate his channel, but Team YouTube responded that his channel had multiple violations of ToS, and that he would not be able to make a new channel.[115] [116] | |
| Yoseline Hoffman | Mexican actress and internet personality | July 7, 2022 | YosStop has admitted to having received, played and stored a video of a 16-year-old being sexually assaulted by four men and the law firm celebrated YosStop's arrest. She faces a sentence of between seven and 14 years in prison if she is convicted, but given the nature of the crime, she could reach a plea deal and avoid going to court. YouTube closed her accounts, the best known YosStop & JustYoss, due to the complaint of child pornography, making it clear that her image is censored from the platform.[117] | |
| Gabriel Montiel | Mexican YouTuber | July 25, 2022 | After influencer and YouTuber Werevertumorro reported on social media on July 25 that he had just been the victim of a hack of his YouTube content.[118] Reinstated shortly after from the support of Team YouTube on X. | |
| Dmitry Puchkov | Russian media personality | Aug 4, 2022 | Puchkov helped to establish communities to spread memes and Russian influence campaigns on Tynu40k Goblina which spread Pro-Soviet and Russian victory in WWII memes.[119] Puchkov had three million subscribers on YouTube before being removed for violating community guidelines[120] when spreading pro-Putin propaganda for which Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev demanded revenge. | |
| Andrew Tate | American and British social media personality, businessman and former professional kickboxer | Aug 22, 2022 | Tate has generated online controversy following his bans on many social networks. While he built a solid fanbase around that time, he was also under fire for his narcissism in addition to his misogyny. Some people have likened his personality to characters from Grand Theft Auto games, while his speech was likened to talk show radios from said game series as well. Many people have claimed that he is a threat to the new generation, as well as having a bad influence on the youth. At the time in which he was banned, he had over 700,000 subscribers and 350 videos on his YouTube channel. | |
| Dranchenlord | German live streamer | Aug 10, 2022 | The "Dragon Lord", whose real life name is Rainer Winkler, quickly became a target of hatred and online bullying despite relatively inconspicuous videos. Last year he had to appear in court after onlookers provoked the YouTuber until he fought back with punches. The "Dragon Lord" regrets his behavior and is aware that his reaction was inappropriate. No more streams, no more new video content. This time the "Dragon Lord" is serious and announces his final retirement from all social media . Next Friday (March 24th) all channels will go offline. | |
| Pontus Rasmusson | Swedish recording artist | Sep 19, 2022 | Pontus faced accusations of sexualizing minors in his content and tens of reports to the Consumer Agency, according to an investigation by Svenska Dagbladet. The criticism concerns, among other things, that he often refers to sex - and talks about rape and incest - despite the fact that his audience is largely made up of children. Pontus Rasmusson is also accused of defrauding his fans of money in various ways. At one point, he asked them to call a phone number to speak to him. In September 2022, since the SvD released a review about influencer and child idol. It led to YouTube removing his main channel from the platform, and just days later his second channel disappeared as well.[121] | |
| Artemiy Andreevich Lebedev | Russian designer, entrepreneur, blogger and traveler | Feb 22, 2023 | The YouTube video hosting service blocked the channel of Russian designer and blogger Artemy Lebedev on February 22. The reason was a violation of the terms of service. Lebedev recently gained a million subscribers on YouTube.[122] The blocking of the Kamikaze Di channel (Dmitry Ivanov*), who is recognized as a foreign agent in Russia and is on the federal wanted list as part of a criminal case on fakes, came as a surprise. A couple of weeks ago, Roskomnadzor blocked his website. | |
| Tiger Raja Singh | Indian politician from the state of Telangana | Apr 13, 2023 | In 2020, Facebook banned the BJP politician for violating its policy prohibiting those that promote or engage in violence. He was tagged by the Meta platform as a "dangerous personality" following a Wall Street Journal report.[123] He is one of the most controversial politicians in India, with more than 105 criminal cases registered against him, of which 18 were related to communal offences.[124] Amid the 2022 Muhammad remarks controversy, Singh was arrested by the Hyderabad Police on 23 August 2022, hours after his comments about Muhammad sparked protests in the city.[125] | |
| Linus Tech Tips and TechLinked | Canadian digital media entertainment company with a focus on technology, founded by Linus Sebastian and Yvonne Ho | Mar 23, 2023 | Linus Tech Tips, and TechLinked channels were hacked. and the channel started streaming deepfakes of Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey interviews. Linus Tech Tips was renamed to LinusTechTipsTemp with the handle @temporaryhandle meanwhile TechLinked was renamed to Tesla. YouTube later terminated the channels for "violating community guidelines". A response was later published on Floatplane saying that the Linus Media Group were working with Google to resolve the issue. The channels were restored a few days later.[126] | |
| CC UNIT | American YouTube channel sting operations | May 10, 2023 | On May 12, 2023, a Youtube Creep Catching Unit, popularly known as CC Unit, gartnered the internet's sensation once again. For context, the California-based group made headlines after organizing a sting operations and accused Chucky actor Edward Gale of being a pedophile.[127] | |
| Mizzy | British YouTuber and TikToker | May 22, 2023 | He achieved global infamy in May 2023 for his controversial "pranks" that resulted in him facing criminal charges. Mizzy became infamous across social media in May 2023 when he posted a TikTok video of him entering strangers' houses that went viral on Twitter. In the video, Mizzy and a few of his friends walk into a stranger's house, calling out somebody's child's name. Mizzy and his friends then sit on their couch, which angers the house owner, and he kicks them out while his toddler watches the altercation. In another video, Mizzy would do the same to a frightened old woman. | |
| Untalented Guy | Indian Youtube creator and Instagrammer | June 6, 2023 | On May 28, the Industrial Estate Police arrested the YouTuber along with five others in connection with a firing incident.The cops also seized two pistols, two motorcycles, and seven mobile phones from their possessions. They have also freezed the bank account of Udit. Reportedly, the whole matter began with a follower of Udit commenting on his video. Following this, an argument escalated between the two, and the YouTuber took his accomplices and opened fire on the two youths. Later, a case was filed at the police station against Udit and his friends and a probe has been launched. Meanwhile, more accused involved in this incident are soon to be arrested, said SP Shagarika Nath.[128] | |
| PAPACITO | French far-right activist | June 9, 2023 | InSeptember 2022, Papacito uploads a first video accusing the mayor of the Tarn-et-Garonne village of Montjoi of corruption . This video, made with George Matharan, a former collaborator of Valeurs actuelles and Livre noir, is broadcast on his YouTube channel, then quickly removed by the host. The conflict in which Papacito takes part dates back to 2017 and concerns the right of way of a communal road. It pits a young woolly pig farmer against an English owner and the mayor of the town on the other. To prevent any passage through the property, the communal road was diverted in 1999. In 2017, the farmer, who wanted to build a building and considered the new road impassable and dangerous, demanded to be able to pass his trucks on the old one, which had never been declassified. Numerous lawsuits ensued between the two parties, with the farmer and the mayor accusing each other of threatening each other. In his video, Papacito takes the side of the farmer, a figure of the small local farmer, against the wealthy foreign landowner who, according to his accusations, corrupted the mayor | |
| Filipino pastor and the leader of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC or KJC), a Restorationist church based in the Philippines | June 21, 2023 | Quiboloy was wanted by the FBI for alleged human trafficking and sanctioned by the Magnitsky Act. The suspension was caused by the YouTuber SomeOrdinaryGamers questioning why he was still allowed on YouTube. [129] Later, other channels related to Quiboloy, such as his church Kingdom of Jesus Christ's channel and the channel of its official news channel Sonshine Media Network International were also taken down, on July 7.[130] | ||
| Fresh and Fit Podcast | American dating podcast | Aug 18, 2023 | The Fresh and Fit Podcast began on October 26, 2020 as part of the manosphere and the men's rights movement. On August 18, 2023, Fresh and Fit was demonetized on the platform and could no longer receive donations from viewers. The hosts stated that they did not know why YouTube had made its decision but suggested that it was because of the themes they would usually cover on their videos. Gaines stated that the podcast hosted "uncomfortable conversations about uncomfortable topics" and that "that's unfortunately the risk you take when you make the kind of content that we do".[131] | |
| Raja Zia ul Haq | CEO of Youth Club has a Master's degree in Information Technology from the University of Canberra, Australia | Aug 22, 2023 | The YouTube channel of Islamabad-based YouTuber, life coach and teacher Raja Ziaul Haq was taken down on Wednesday. The content creator, in a video about the development, stated that they were unsure about the reasons why the channel was taken down. YouTube's action caused quite a stir on social media on Wednesday with many voicing their opinions about the videos and opinions Haq shared on the platform.[132] | |
| Uncle Slava | Donbas political activist and Omegle/Chatroulette streamer | Fitness and criminal justice blogger, later focussing on Ukrainian issues following the 2013 Euromaidan protests including the Nazi relations of the Azov Brigade, far-right and racial problems and potential resolutions to the war in Donbas. Suspended due to his active position in favor of speaking with both Ukrainian and Donbas people using online chat services and translating these discussions.[133] | ||
| American family vlogger and parental advice company | Channels 8 Passengers and ConneXions terminated following Franke and Hildebrandt's arrest for six charges of aggravated child abuse.[134] Franke openly admitted in her content to withholding food and bedding from her children as form of punishment, and online petitions to get child protective services involved had existed since 2020.[135] | |||
| Jodi Hildebrandt | ||||
| London Real TV | English former YouTuber and American-born British podcaster | Sep 4, 2023 | Rose has also conducted interviews with conspiracy theorist David Icke, in one of which Icke falsely claimed a link between the COVID-19 pandemic and 5G mobile phone networks. The video was later removed from YouTube, Facebook, and Spotify. YouTube closed the London Real channel in September 2023. | |
| Andrew Kibe | Kenyan Social media personality and life coach | Sep 11, 2023 | Google Africa has clarified why media personality Andrew Kibe's YouTube channels were canceled a week ago. In a social media post, the Head of Communication Dorothy Ooko, the social networking company explained that Kibe had violated the terms and services offered on the platform. She said that Kibe violated the terms and conditions by logging into another channel after his initial account was canceled. Kibe violated YouTube's Terms of Service. While he was restricted from using YouTube features, including uploading videos on his channel, he used another channel to get around these restrictions, aka circumvention, and terminated all his channels. | |
| Matt Walsh | American conservative political commentator and podcast host | Sep 12, 2023 | As of April 24, While refusing to refrain from disrespectful behavior, he continued producing videos misgendering Lia Thomas and TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Besides claiming Bud Light, Disney, and Target "groom" children, he also claims they make kids trans and that LGBTQ+ communities sacrifice children. Despite YouTube's disciplinary ruling, Walsh continued to attack Dylan Mulvaney and Bud Light, with a May 5 video mocking the brand's poor sales. A YouTube spokesperson did confirm the first demonetization to Media Matters in a statement.[136] | |
| Russell Brand | English comedian, actor and podcaster | Sep 22, 2023 | YouTube CEO Neal Mohan defended the platform's recent decision to suspend monetization of comedian Russell Brand's channel following sexual assault and emotional abuse allegations against him.[137] | |
| Vinodh Kumar | Indian far-right activist and pro-ruling government leaner | Sep 23, 2023 | The 'String' channel, led by Vinodh Kumar, posted videos on several liberal, communist, and leftist-led propaganda that allegedly misleads the public. Vinodh's String produces videos discussing vital national and international topics, presenting comprehensive exposes that critique left-leaning individuals. YouTube has previously taken action against String's content.[138] In 2021, the platform removed a video that unveiled the contents of the Greta Thunberg Toolkit, which featured the names of several media organizations, journalists, and 'activists.' YouTube justified this removal on the grounds of "harassment and bullying".[139] | |
| Jackson Hinkle | American YouTuber and political live-streamer | Oct 9, 2023 | As of November 2023, Hinkle is one of the most viral users on the social media site X (formerly Twitter); he has been banned from WhatsApp, YouTube, Instagram, Paypal, and Twitch for misinformation. He has been described by The Jewish Chronicle as Twitter's "most viral misinformation spreader" due to his frequent tweeting. Or, as he sees it, he has been silenced by a "corrupt cabal of elite leadership who will do anything to silence independent voices". Hinkle recently pivoted to Twitter, banking on Elon Musk's plan to make the site a bastion of "free speech". Last week, he became the most viral man on the site, offering a premium subscription to those wanting to help him "DEFEAT THE ZIONIST LIES". Hinkle – who describes himself as an "American Conservative Marxist-Leninist", amongst other things – has taken a strong stance against Israel since the October 7 attacks. His almost 2 million followers are overwhelmed by posts rife with misinformation about the war. Hinkle claimed US Marines have landed in Israel, and misrepresented US airstrikes in Syria earlier this year as "breaking" news of an Israeli attack. | |
| Voice of Chonglang, GFWFrog and RutersXiaoFanQi | Chinese satirical spoof YouTube channels featuring ruling Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping | Oct 10, 2023 | YouTube has once more deleted a channel that produced satirical spoof videos featuring ruling Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, sparking further concerns over whether the Chinese government is exploiting the social media giant’s copyright rules. Internet censors quickly pulled the plug on the live stream and banned overseas-based players from making broadcasts.[140] | |
| SSSniperWolf | British-American YouTuber and internet personality | Oct 23, 2023 | Lia was involved in an internet scandal when she doxxed a critic, Canadian YouTuber jacksfilms, by livestreaming the front of their home on her Instagram story, resulting in temporary demonetization.[141] [142] | |
| Super JoJo - Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs | Chinese YouTube channel and Web Series for nursery rhymes and kids songs | Jan 18, 2024 | In August 2021, the channel was the target of a lawsuit by Cocomelon for copyright infringement by copying video ideas. On September 22, 2021, the channel was losing views as a result of the lawsuit. On September 8, 2021, their channel got terminated. In July 2023, a jury ruled in favor of Cocomelon and ordered Super JoJo to pay $23.5 million dollars to Cocomelon. On January 27th, 2024, all Super JoJo's channels got terminated again for copyright infringement for copying Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes.[143] | |
| Justin Mohn | American Federal worker | Feb 1, 2024 | Mohn allegedly shot his father before using a knife and machete to decapitate him. He then posted a rambling video on YouTube advocating the torture and killing of US government employees. The video was on the site for several hours before it was taken down, authorities said. He was charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and possession of an instrument of crime and has been ordered held without bail.[144] | |
| Godtone | Taiwanese LoL Pacific Championship Series pro player, Twitch and YouTube live gaming streamer | Godtone faced criticism from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan after mocking child pornography on his stream. He issued an apology, but his YouTube channel was suspended shortly thereafter.[145] | ||
| Monsta | Malaysian-based Animation studio | Monsta YouTube channel was hacked and renamed into Microstrategy, resulted in its account and videos being removed.[146] | ||
| Charlotte Kates & Samidoun Network | June 24, 2024 | [147] YouTube suddenly struck and deleted the entire Samidoun Network channel and its years of content, and simultaneously struck and deleted the channel of our international coordinator Charlotte Kates. [148] This came despite the fact that Charlotte’s channel had never had a strike, and Samidoun’s only one warning after mass reporting (and had videos pulled down for similar baseless reasons on a one-by-one basis). This is clearly intended to silence voices speaking about Palestine.[149] | ||
| Dr Disrespect | American Live gaming streamer | June 29, 2024 | In June 2020, Beahm was permanently banned from Twitch for then-undisclosed reasons.[150] He returned to streaming on YouTube a month later.[151] In June 2024, former Twitch employees named Cody Conners disclosed that his ban was due to sexting with a minor using Twitch's Whisper feature in 2017.[152] Beahm acknowledged the nature of his ban, and characterized the messages as "inappropriate".[153] Following this, YouTube demonetized and suspended his channel from the platform's partner program, and his partnerships were suspended.[154] | |
| Mois | German-speaking web video producer and rapper | Jul 1, 2024 | Mois' Twitch channel, mois_kid, was permanently banned in March 2021 after Mois responded to an offensive video on it.[155] In July 2024, several YouTube channels were permanently terminated on the grounds of copyright infringement.[156] | |
| SHAMAN, Grigory Leps, Oleg Gazmanov, Polina Gagarina | Russian singers | Terminated on appeal from LRTK and to comply with EU sanctions.[157] | ||
| Capitol City Rail Productions | Nebraskan teen | Aug 19, 2024 | A 17-year-old Nebraska boy is facing felony charges after he was accused of derailing a train and posting the subsequent crash on YouTube. The Bennet, Nebraska boy was charged in Lancaster County Juvenile Court last week, though prosecutors have filed to get the case moved over to adult court, according to documents obtained by multiple local outlets.[158] The teen is accused of tampering with the components of a railway on April 21, causing a BNSF Railway train loaded with coal to derail. Investigators said the resulting damage to two locomotives and five cars totaled around $350,000, according to KLKN-TV and WVIT-TV.[159] | |
| Amouranth | American internet celebrity, online streamer and adult webcam model | Aug 21, 2024 | Amouranth, real name Kaitlyn Siragusa, is best known for her streams and videos on Youtube, Kick and Twitch. At the moment, it's not entirely clear what got her main YouTube account banned. Some have speculated that having more than one account could be seen by YouTube as trying to bypass the prior ASMR channel ban, which is against its TOS.[160] | |
| Lauren Chen | Asian-American Conservative political commentary | Terminated following an indictment by the U.S. Department of Justice in which her company, Tenet Media, was accused of being funded by the Russian government.[161] [162] | ||
| TENET Media | American right-wing media company founded by conservatives Lauren Chen and Liam Donovan | |||
| Candace Owens | American political commentator and pundit | Sep 10, 2024 | YouTube suspended far-right political commentator Candace Owens from its platform for one week and demonetized her account after she shared a previously-unreleased 2022[163] interview with Kanye West in which the rapper, who now legally goes by the name Ye, made a series of antisemitic remarks.[164] | |
| Ironmouse | Mexican VTuber | Terminated following false copyright strikes intended to obtain her personal identity. Ironmouse's streaming video on demand channel had been terminated ten days earlier for similar reasons.[165] Both accounts would subsequently be restored on September 23. | ||
| Ranveer Allahbadia | Indian digital content creator, entrepreneur, and a podcaster | Sep 26, 2024 | YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia's YouTube channels, including Beer Biceps, were hacked on September 25.[166] This event comes after the Indian Supreme Court's YouTube channel was recently hacked. [167] | |
| Johnny Somali | American Live streamer | Oct 27, 2024 | On October 7, 2024, a U.S. content creator who faced backlash for uploaded a video of himself kissing the Statue of Peace in Itaewon, Yongsan District, Seoul, and performing a lewd dance in front of the monument had his YouTube channel deleted on Monday. On October 26, he was taken into police custody and disobeyed rules. On November 2, 2024, he was barred from leaving the country while being under probe for his earlier incidents.[168] | |
| TheGoatSaint | Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s eldest son, Saint West | Oct 30, 2024 | Kim Kardashian’s eight-year-old-son Saint West’s YouTube channel being deleted after he shared a couple of anti-Kamala Harris videos.[169] Kardashian had originally allowed her son to start his own YouTube channel in September after he signed an “extensive contract.”[170] | |
