Sceptor

Hello, @TeamYouTube I hope this message finds you well.  I am still missing thousands of dollars of income due to being falsely demonetized for "misleading family content". May I please receive any updates on what specific content on my channel is in violation of said policy?  I've provided as much evidence as possible through appeals, support agents, etc. that my channel is anything but misleading family content, but I've never been told what videos or content on my channel was in violation. This is despite it being affirmed at every turn that my videos, with an 82% adult audience, all marked not for kids, covering majority TV-14 or higher series, with any aspects that are not family-friendly being marked before they ever go live, are somehow misleading to families. I have no direction on what to do in the future should I want to reapply or what would need to change about my channel, as I'm still unsure what I've done wrong or what examples of misleading family content can be pointed to, as I've made clear in my appeal.  Especially since multiple other creators in my niche who are larger have received almost the exact same responses, word for word, that I have, only to be reinstated upon making a video and having their channel reviewed instead of facing an automated denial with little to no transparency.   If my channel isn't going to be reinstated, I would at least like to know what content specifically violated any monetization policies.  To my knowledge, I have no strikes or age-restricted videos, and my content post-demonetization is still, for some reason, being served to 13- 17-year-olds despite you having deemed my videos not appropriate for that audience (with it being confirmed that ads are still being served in some cases), so this has been quite a confusing experience.  Especially since, even then, as I've demonstrated, they make up a small fraction of my audience anyways. I'm in a position where, despite all my videos being marked not for kids, minors of any kind making up a fraction of any video's audience, my channel having zero strikes, my channel still being served by YouTube to the audience my channel apparently is not appropriate for, alongside my videos still being served to a general audience, not to mention the overwhelming majority of the series I cover, animated or not, being TV-14 or up, my channel is considered massively in violation of the misleading family content policy.  I'm expected to miss out on 90 days of income I use to support myself through college, with no frame of reference for what content is in violation, what specific changes I should make going forward, etc., with there still being no guarantee I am reinstated after this time. Best, TierlistMan39

@TeamYouTube, since I've still been able to get a human response through email, I would like to present my case more formally through here. I am a college junior and the creator of Tierlistman39--a YouTube channel that has grown to approximately 40,000 subscribers and more than 5 million views in just eight months. YouTube recently removed my channel from the YouTube Partner Program and demonetized it for “misleading family content,” and my appeal was denied. I am asking for an independent human review by an experienced YPP or policy specialist, because I believe YouTube has fundamentally misclassified my channel. Why YouTube Should Take Another Look Several facts do not appear consistent with the determination that my channel is misleading family content: My videos are designated “Not Made for Kids,” and my analytics show that my audience is overwhelmingly adults. My content consists primarily of commentary and humor involving anime, gaming and pop culture. YouTube’s own guidelines as well as COPPA both acknowledge that animated content does not necessarily mean its meant for children and that the key determinant should be the self selection of the creator to mark their content as not for children and disclose the content in this video both of which I have done. YouTube has misinterpreted animated imagery on my channel before. A GIF of Squidward from SpongeBob was flagged for nudity or sexual content, apparently because the character does not wear pants. After human review, YouTube reversed that decision but only after multiple automated rejected appeals and nearly three weeks of asking for a human review. Other animation creators have publicly reported receiving the same “misleading family content” determination, and some have had monetization restored after additional review. Shortly before my demonetization, one of my videos received more than 400,000 views and reached #49 overall on YouTube’s Hyped leaderboard. That video addressed racist content on TikTok and ultimately exposed me to an extraordinary level of attention and harassment including a brigading campaign from a larger creator which is visible within the comments of the video. There was likely a coordinated increase in reports and other concerning signs around Early September to late August My Audience and Content My channel does not target young children. My audience analytics show that over 80% of my subscribers or viewers are 18 or older. The overwhelming majority of my viewers are adults. I understand that audience demographics alone do not determine whether content is directed toward children; however, they are consistent with what I have been saying all along: my content is commentary and humor created for an older audience that happens to use anime, and other animated imagery. This has been reflected in the status of my videos, none of which are marked as for children either personally or by YouTube. In fact they are all explicitly marked as not for kids and contain disclosures regarding whether they contain profanity or other content as I am legally required to disclose.YouTube’s own guidance explains that animated content can be general-audience content and that the presence of animated characters does not automatically make something children's content. That is why I am concerned that the visual characteristics of my channel may be causing YouTube's systems or reviewers to misunderstand what the channel actually is. The Hype Leaderboard and the Harassment Campaign One part of the timeline is particularly important.I posted a video speaking out against racist content on TikTok a few weeks ago. The video received more than 400,000 views and reached #49 overall on YouTube's Hype leaderboard. Under YouTube’s own requirements, videos designated ‘Made for Kids’ are not eligible for the Hyped leaderboard. My video was not only eligible for Hype; it reached #49 overall on the leaderboard. While I understand that Hype eligibility and the YPP ‘misleading family content’ standard are not identical, this makes the later classification of my channel even more difficult for me to understand. Especially since I’ve had multiple videos be hyped to the leaderboard in the past My video was also amplified by substantially larger creators, including TommyNFG and YXL Salah. As the video traveled well beyond my normal audience, another creator known for posting racist content targeted me and encouraged his followers to do the same. I then received approximately multiple hostile messages in roughly 24 hours, many of whom implicated said creator as the reason. Many were racist, some encouraged harm toward myself. Shortly thereafter, YouTube demonetized my channel for “misleading family content.” I do not know whether the harassment campaign and my demonetization are connected. I also do not know whether people involved in the harassment campaign reported my videos or my channel to YouTube; however, the timing raises concerns, and I want YouTube to investigate it and find out. Since the people targeting me were willing to send racist messages and emails telling me to kill myself simply because I spoke out against racist content, I think it is entirely reasonable to ask YouTube whether some of those same people also reported my channel or videos which led to their demonetization. Why This Issue Matters to Me Earlier this year, I made a video about the online harassment of Black content creators, after a young Black creator died by suicide following online harassment, and I donated money from that video to a mental health organization. As a young black creator who has themselves struggled with clinical depression and I believed then, and still believe now, that online harassment can have serious real-world consequences which is why I continue to speak out about it. One Question I Still Cannot Answer I’m a Political Science major who hopes to attend law school. One of the things I am being trained to do is look at a rule, examine the evidence and determine whether the evidence actually supports the conclusion. That is what I have been trying to do here. The central question I cannot answer is: What about my channel led YouTube to conclude that I am targeting children or families? My videos are marked Not Made for Kids. My audience is overwhelmingly adult. YouTube’s own guidance recognizes that animation can be content not for children. YouTube previously reversed an incorrect classification involving animated imagery on my channel after human review. And immediately before this happened, one of my videos had reached #49 overall on YouTube’s own Hype leaderboard for emerging YPP creators. I also find it difficult to understand why, if my channel actually targets young children while exposing them to inappropriate mature content, the appropriate response is to remove my participation in advertising revenue while leaving the allegedly problematic content available to viewers and continuing to serve advertisements on it. My video explaining this situation received approximately 95,000 views during its first 24 hours. I believe the response reflects a broader concern among creators about whether YouTube’s automated enforcement systems are accurately understanding context. What I Am Asking @TeamYouTube to Do I respectfully ask YouTube to: 1. Conduct an independent human review of my channel by an experienced YPP or policy specialist, specifically examining whether my content actually targets children rather than inferring a child audience from anime or animated imagery. 2. Explain what specific content on my channel caused YouTube to classify it as “misleading family content.” 3. Review YouTube's internal records to determine whether my channel experienced an unusual increase in reports during or immediately after the harassment campaign and, if so, whether that activity played any role in triggering the review that resulted in my Demonetization. I have attached my audience analytics, the prior Squidward enforcement decision and reversal, screenshots documenting the harassment, information concerning the Hype ranking, my YPP notices and appeal, and any other information that would assist your team in conducting a meaningful review. Thank you for taking the time to consider my request. Sincerely, Tierlistman39