- The YouTube landscape is ever changing.
I've been on this platform for almost 10 years,
and what's deemed acceptable and unacceptable
on this website, has continually changed.
So much so in fact
that many YouTuber's have been outright banned
for the content that they produce.
Whether it resulted in a deleted channel,
a temporary ban,
or a ban on earning money,
all of this raises interesting debates
about what should and should not be allowed here.
You know multiple people on this list,
but trust me,
no shade is intended.
This is just for, you know, factual observation.
Lets jump into it.
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Here are 10 Banned YouTube Channels.
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Number 10 is Logan Paul.
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Logan Paul's been on YouTube for several years
and it undoubtedly one of the platforms
most controversial figures.
During his time on the platform
he's been accused of disrespecting Japanese culture,
objectifying women, flexing about his economic status,
and even promoting violence
as a solution to disagreements
through his Pay-Per-View boxing matches.
But his most controversial moment
came in that video in Japan,
you know what I'm talking about.
I obviously can't go into detail
about what was in that video,
because of demonetization rules,
but many people found that video
very disrespectful and dehumanizing.
Other people however,
actually defended him,
saying that his reaction to what he found
was born out of the anxiety of the situation.
Whichever you believe,
it resulted in Logan Paul receiving a ban
on ads for several weeks,
with rumors suggesting that YouTube even considered
axing his channel completely.
Number nine is Shirrako.
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In November of 2018,
one of YouTube many gaming channels Shirrako,
was shut down for a controversial video.
The clip was from the video game Red Dead Redemption Two.
The game itself involves completing
a wide range of missions in the Old West,
with particular attention to detail,
in terms of playing in a sandbox world.
In one particular clip,
Shirrako played the game and encountered a suffregate
campaigning for women,
to get the vote during the 1800s.
After the computer character spoke about her beliefs,
Shirrako's character attacked the character.
Shirrako was banned for this,
even though it was just a video game,
and even though the game had clearly been designed
with this option.
Eventually his channel was reinstated,
but it did provoke discussion
around whether some gaming moments
should be considered hate related,
or whether it was just an overreaction.
Number eight is Toy Freaks.
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Toy Freaks was founded as a YouTube channel
in 2012 by Gregory Chism.
Over the next five years it amassed a huge following.
At it's peak, Toy Freaks had
over eight million subscribers.
The content of the channel
was made by the channel owner and his two young children.
Their videos involved gross-out humor,
but many felt the videos crossed the line
from zany into creepy.
Some argued that the channel was deliberately
set up to make money from money with twisted motives,
while others claim that the gross-out humor
was in line with older kids TV shows.
YouTube banned Toy Freaks in 2017
for violating its Terms of Service.
Since then the channel has tried to come back
in various forms,
but each time they've been blocked
for what many see as profiting
from the mistreatment of children.
Number seven is Stranger Than Fiction News.
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With over 150,000 subscribers at the time,
Stranger Than Fiction News
was banned from YouTube in 2018
as the website tried to combat alleged fake news sites.
Many accounts within the conspiracy theory community
were banned with Stranger Than Fiction News
being one of them.
This channel was accused of creating and spreading
inaccurate information which people were then
taking at face value.
But not only was the channel banned from YouTube,
it was also kicked off Facebook for the same reason.
It's a tricky situation,
social media companies are still trying to figure out
what's classified as free speech.
On one hand you have people arguing
that anything should be allowed,
while others suggest that the reason people
are ill informed about important issues
is because of channels like this.
Number six is Scott Allsop.
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While valid arguments could be made
about banning conspiracy channels
when they promote information which is demonstrably untrue,
there are other innocent channels
that get tangled up in YouTube's algorithm.
When banning decisions are handed off
to artificial intelligence,
there are those who get banned accidentally.
One example of this is Scott Allsop's History Channel.
His channel was banned because YouTube's algorithm
detected hate speech on some of his videos.
However, the reason YouTube detected this
was because Scott is a history teacher
and his channel contained videos about history,
some of which discussed topics
such as Nazis.
Some clips contained archival footage
of such topics,
because of World War II.
Eventually his channel was restored,
but this problem highlights growing concern
with blanket bans being implemented
without human oversight.
Number five is Family of Five.
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Similar to Toy Freaks, Family of Five
was a large YouTube channel which featured
the daily lives of a family.
However, many of their videos included pranks,
and I use that word very loosely,
which resulted in children of the family being very upset.
After Philip DeFranco made a video
rallying against the family,
their videos went viral for all the wrong reasons.
Eventually, the channel was banned permanently by YouTube
and the family allegedly lost custody
of at least one of their kids.
In response to allegations of mistreatment,
the family made videos claiming
that everything was scripted,
even the reactions of the kids.
Most people didn't buy this, and though the family
have had a YouTube channel since,
their original pranks remain banned.
Number four is Bombard's Body Language.
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Another channel that was banned from YouTube
is Bombard's Body Language.
The channel had 264,000 subscribers at the time.
The channel posted videos analyzing the body language
of people in the news.
This included politicians.
However, many argued that this wasn't done
in an objective way and that the body language
of individuals was being interpreted
purely through one political ideology.
For a short while, the channel was reinstated
without monetization, however, many felt their videos
should be permanently taken down
because of the way that they analyzed the body language
of people involved in sensitive situations.
Number three is David Seaman Online.
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Usually, a conspiracy theory is an account
of how those with power have the ability
to conceal the truth from us
and perhaps even use that concealment against us.
Whether they are actually true or not,
sometimes they can be extremely entertaining
as we leave the door open just enough to ask the question,
what if it's all real?
However, sometimes that speculation can go too far.
Some argue that this is why David Seaman
was banned from YouTube.
His YouTube channel explored conspiracy theories
and presented them as undeniable fact.
But one theory in particular got him in trouble.
One which suggested that some politicians
were involved in sordid despicable acts behind closed doors.
He followed this up with accusations
against people involved in, again, sensitive topics,
and that violated the terms of service
and he was permanently banned.
Number two is PewDiePie.
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Sometimes it isn't YouTube itself
which bans a YouTube channel, but rather a country.
At least that's what we were led to believe.
You see, countries have the ability
to request that YouTube blocks specific channels.
This often happens because of copyright violations.
However, sometimes it can be contravening
a country's status quo.
For example, PewDiePie made several jokes
about Chinese leadership, and so he claimed
that he was banned from there.
Newspapers and other outlets picked up the story
and spread this alleged fact.
However, PewDiePie later made light of being banned
and the entire thing was a bit bizarre
when YouTube itself is blocked on Chinese mainland
and requires workarounds in order to be accessible.
It's possible that this is just one big old joke from Felix,
though it wouldn't be the first time
that China blocked a person it didn't like.
And number one is Alex Jones.
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Yeah, you guys knew this was gonna be on the list.
Alex Jones is probably the most famous person
to ever have been outright banned by YouTube.
Through his channel, InfoWars, he was banned
in one foul swoop from YouTube
and every other major social media platform.
This was in response to various conspiracy theories
that he had promoted, including one in particular,
which again, we cannot discuss in this video
because of demonetization rules,
but if you do some light Googling, you can find it.
In August of 2019, InfoWars created a new channel
called the War Room, which temporarily uploaded
similar content to YouTube.
In just 24 hours, Alex Jones and his network
either violated the terms of service
or were punished for trying to evade their ban
by having a new channel suspended once more.
So the question remains, should YouTube be a place
where free speech is allowable
or should it be policed like it's currently being done now?
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
But other than that, thank you for watching,
for liking this video, and of course, for subscribing,
and a very special thank you to all of my channel members,
especially those names you see on your screen right now.
All of you help keep my channel going.
Thanks again, and I'll see you in the next video.