by Google
If you haven't paid much attention to YouTube's Community Guidelines, it's time to change that. Whether you've been making videos on YouTube for a long time or you're just starting out, it's important for the future of your channel to have a thorough understanding of the YouTube Community Guidelines. Why are they so important and what are the different rules you need to follow on YouTube? You can learn all about them in our series of articles dedicated to Community Guidelines.
• What are the Community Guidelines?
• What are the consequences of violating the Community Guidelines?
• How to use Community Guidelines to your advantage?
WHAT ARE COMMUNITY GUIDELINES?
Every responsible online platform should have rules that ensure that users are protected so that they can safely use everything the platform has to offer. YouTube has such a feature called Community Guidelines. These rules determine what is and is not allowed on YouTube, and apply to all types of content on the platform, including videos, comments, links, and thumbnails. YouTube's rules can be divided into four broad categories: SPAM AND DECEPTIVE PRACTICES
The YouTube Community Guidelines clearly prohibit deceptive practices on the platform, such as comment spam, pyramid schemes, manipulative practices, and misleading thumbnails. Content whose primary purpose is to trick others into leaving YouTube for another website is also not allowed.
Fraudulent practices occur on YouTube during live broadcasts of sporting events, where the creator refers the viewer to an external website that may contain a virus or spyware and harm the user. This also happens with live streams about cryptocurrencies, which encourage viewers to invest in, for example, bitcoins with a guarantee of appreciation, but in realityit is a scam and users will never see their money again.
TIP: Avoid dubious paid collaborations that can damage your reputation, community, and threaten the future of your YouTube channel.
SENSITIVE CONTENT
The purpose of YouTube's policies is to create a safe environment for users and to protect creators and viewers alike, especially minors. That's why the Community Guidelines include rules that aim to ensure the safety of children on the platform, protecting users from sexual content, nudity and self-harm. In the case of educational content, an exception may be made and the video will not be downloaded, but hidden and the user will only find it using a specific keyword and must then confirm that they are of legal age.
TIP: Pay close attention to the thumbnails of the videos, they must not contain any sensitive content that could arouse sexual arousal. This type of thumbnail can be taken down by YouTube and even sanctioned by the creator.
VIOLENT OR DANGEROUS CONTENT
Another category in the Community Guidelines is violent and dangerous content. YouTube defines this as any type of hate speech, violence, physical assault, or content on the platform that encourages harmful or dangerous behavior. When creating videos, be especially careful to ensure that your content does not violate any of the rules.
TIP: When filming a reaction video, focus on commenting on the activity or work of the person you are reacting to, avoid swearing, mocking, or hating, which could be interpreted as hate speech.
REGULATED GOODS
YouTube has defined in its rules so-called regulated goods, such as alcohol, fireworks, nicotine, or non-prescription drugs. The Community Guidelines prohibit the promotion of such goods in any content on the platform. You cannot promote it in videos, or in comments. Avoid creating content that would encourage users to purchase alcohol or other regulated goods.
WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF VIOLATING THE COMMUNITY GUIDELINES?
Rules that no one follows are useless rules. To ensure compliance with the Community Guidelines, YouTube has introduced a method of monitoring and drawing consequences for their possible violation. Among the tools that YouTube uses to ensure compliance with the rules are sanctions (Community Guidelines Strikes) and age restrictions on content.
PENALTIES
If YouTube determines that your content violates the Community Guidelines, it will be deleted and you will receive a message with information about the violation of the rules. If you violated the rules for the first time, you will only be given a warning, everyone can make mistakes. If you violate the rules again, you will receive your first penalty and your channel will operate with certain restrictions, for example, you will not be able to publish content for 7 days. If you violate the Community Guidelines again, you will be given a second penalty, which will also prevent the channel from publishing content for the next 2 weeks. And if you receive a third penalty within 90 days, your channel will be permanently deleted. Sanctions cannot be canceled by removing inappropriate content; they will be deleted after 90 days.
Of course, if you are convinced that you were wrongly given a penalty, you can appeal.
AGE RESTRICTION OF CONTENT
YouTube may have a situation where when the content does not violate the rules, but is not suitable for all viewers, specifically for underage viewers. In such a situation, you have the option to set an age restriction for the content directly when publishing the video. However, if your video contains parts that should not be accessible to minors and you do not set an age restriction for the video, you cannot avoid it. YouTube will evaluate this for you and, if necessary, mark your video as content for 18+ viewers.
HOW TO USE THE COMMUNITY GUIDELINES TO YOUR ADVANTAGE?
Studying the Community Guidelines will help you better understand how YouTube works as an online platform, avoid unnecessary mistakes, and use your channel's potential to its fullest.
AVOID SANCTIONS AND DO NOT ENDANGER YOUR CHANNEL
As you have noticed, violating the rules can lead to the complete cancellation of your YouTube channel, which is perhaps the highest punishment a creator can receive. If you are familiar with the Community Guidelines, you will easily avoid creating content that could in any way violate the rules on YouTube and you do not have to worry about the sanctions and restrictions they bring.
AVOID COLLABORATING WITH DOUBTFUL CREATORS
Knowing the Community Guidelines will help you see whether the content of other creators is in line with the rules or whether it is on the edge. Thanks to a new perspective on other YouTubers' videos, you can evaluate which colleagues are suitable to collaborate with on joint content and, conversely, who could jeopardize your creation by not following the rules or balancing on their edge.
PLAY BY THE RULES AND PROGRESS
YouTube is not interested in supporting channels that regularly violate the Community Guidelines. At the same time, if you constantly violate the rules, your channel will constantly receive sanctions with restrictions that will slow down the progress of your channel. Play by the rules, avoid sanctions, create valuable content, engage with the community, and build a successful YouTube channel.
We understand that studying the Community Guidelines can be less fun than creating videos, but if you want to constantly move forward and build a successful YouTube channel, this is one of the basics you need to master. We keep our fingers crossed for you in creating great videos, and if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.
