YouTube Cracking Down On Anything Gun Related
Kevin Felts 03.21.18
A few days ago YouTube announced a new set of guidelines for firearm related channels. The guidelines talked about silencers, high capacity magazines above thirty rounds, and a few other odds and ends such as bump stocks.
Seems simple enough, right? Well, things may not be what they seem at YouTube.
One of my videos was demonetized within seconds of being published. The only firearm in the video was a Glock 19 laying next to a backpack.
- The Glock was not shot in the video.
- The word Glock was not in the title, video description or tags.
- Title of the video is “Pocket Compass and Hiking With Dogs.”
- Handgun was not even handled or mentioned.
- While talking about the compass, land navigation and the dogs, the Glock is visible on the ground.
- The video was demonetized within 60 seconds of being published.
The preview image had the Glock sitting next to a backpack. This is what the preview image of the video looked like.
I felt the preview image, with the Glock visible, did not reflect the content of the video, so an image of the dogs was uploaded.
From the time the video was published, another preview image uploaded, then click on the video manager link, maybe 60 seconds passed. I am thinking more like 30-45 seconds.
Here is the video.
The video being demonetized within 30-60 seconds leads me to believe YouTube is scanning new videos for images of firearms. Rather than waiting for someone to report the video, maybe YouTube has new software that scans the preview image, or scans the video for images of guns?
- There was no shooting in the video.
- Firearm was not mentioned in the video, video title, tags or description.
- No firearms were even handled.
If YouTube is not scanning videos for images of firearms, especially preview images, what other explanation could there be?
Hopefully my suspicions are wrong. If true, this brings YouTube censorship to a whole new level.
