What is a Community Strike and what are the penalties for it

Social networks and the Internet in general have long been a place where one could share absolutely anything without any restrictions. The consequence of this endless freedom on the Internet was the spread of hate, hoaxes or the emergence of various ideological groups. In order to protect users, many social networks have created rules that limit or prohibit various hate speech and many other things that could endanger the safety of users, and YouTube is no exception. In its rules, YouTube describes what is allowed and prohibited for both regular users and creators. In the last article, we focused on the rules, which are called Community Guidelines and today we're going to look at what's at stake for violating them from a creator's point of view.

WHAT ARE THE COMMUNITY GUIDELINES?

Community Guidelinesis a set of rules that determine what is allowed on YouTube and what is not, while the rules apply to all types of content on the platform, including videos, comments, links and thumbnails. We can divide YouTube rules into four big categories:

· Spam and deceptive practices

· Sensitive content 

· Violent or dangerous content 

· Regulated goods

But what happens if these rules are violated?

FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE RULES IS SUBJECT TO SANCTIONS

Despite the fact that 98% of creators will never violate the Community Guidelines, these rules are necessary to make YouTube a safe place for its users, and at the same time to preserve freedom of expression on the platform.

To maintain this balance, YouTube runs on sanctions for policy violations. All sanctions are accompanied by an email that gives creators an opportunity to review and understand how they broke the rules before they face more serious consequences. The sanctioning system has proven itself on YouTube, as according to statistics, up to 94% of creators who received the first sanction never received another. You can check your sanctions in the YouTube studio.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I BREAK THE COMMUNITY GUIDELINES?

In principle, it is very simple. Your work on YouTube must comply with the Community Guidelines. If you create content that violates these rules, your channel will be penalized.

A) YOU WILL RECEIVE A WARNING

Mistakes happen and YouTube understands that. Therefore,if you violate the Community Guidelines for the first time, you will not automatically receive the first sanction. Instead of a penalty, you'll usually get a warningthat includes information about how your video violated YouTube's rules.

However, remember that you will receive the notification only once, and it will remain in your channel. If you violate the Community Guidelines again with your creation, you will be penalized. Sometimes even a single serious violation can result in the channel being canceled without warning.

B) THE FIRST SANCTION FOLLOWS

If you receive a penalty, YouTube will notify you via email, a notification on your smartphone, computer, and you will also see it in your channel settings. Along with the notification, you will receive information:

· What content was removed.

· Which rules were broken.

· What will be the consequences for your channel.

· What you can do next.

With the first sanction comes restrictions on your channel. This means that for one week you will not be able to:

1. Upload videos, live broadcasts or stories.

2. Create your own thumbnails or posts for the community.

3. Create, edit, or add collaborators to lists.

4. Add or remove lists from the video watch page with the Save button.

5. Show trailer during premieres.

After a week, all restrictions will be lifted and you will be able to return to your normal functioning on YouTubebut the sanction will remain on your channel for 3 months.

Violation of the Community Guidelines is taken quite seriously. Therefore, you should not rely on the first sanction that nothing terrible happens. As we mentioned above,for gross violations, YouTube can delete your channel without warning. , which was problematic in your video and avoid making videos that violate the rules.

C) ANOTHER VIOLATION OF THE RULES IS SUBJECT TO A SECOND SANCTION

If you get another one within the next 3 months since you got the first sanction, YouTube will not allow you to post any content for two weeks. So you can't upload video, YouTube Story, YouTube Shorts , not even a contribution to the community, just nothing. If there are no complications or problems, all restrictions will be lifted after two weeks and your channel will be fully functional. Also in this casethe sanction will remain marked on your channel for 3 months.

D) THIRD SANCTION MEANS END ON YOUTUBE

Three sanctions in three months means for you the complete removal of your YouTube channel and a ban on creating for you as a person. This means that even if you later create a new channel and YouTube identifies you, the new channel will also be canceled.

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I RECEIVE A SANCTION?

Now you probably understand what we meant when we said that YouTube violates Community Guidelines evaluates quite strictly. Therefore, if you are a beginner creator, but even if you have been creating for some time, study the rules of YouTube. This will help you avoid penalties and better understand how the platform works. And if you know the rules of YouTube and you are sure that you received the sanction illegally, you can appeal.

Now that you know the serious consequences of violating YouTube's rules, we trust you will go through Community Guidelines, you will avoid sanctions, create valuable content for your community and build a successful YouTube channel. We wish you the best of luck with your YouTube channel and don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.