New Changes to YouTube Community Guidelines Explained

You may be wondering what all the recent YouTube commotion has been about, or why popular YouTube creators are criticizing and protesting YouTube as a whole. The answer is simple– many YouTubers lost their verification checkmarks this past month after YouTube decided to change the community guidelines. If you missed the criticism, protesting, and drama, I will give you a quick timeline of the series of events that took place in September:  

• In mid-September, YouTube announced new restrictions in getting verified on YouTube, causing an uproar in the YouTube community.

Can you explain what existing problem this solves?

— Hank Green (@hankgreen) September 19, 2019

• YouTube announced that channels with no more than 100,000 subscribers will be eligible for verification, however, they will be stricter about verification than they have been in the past beginning in late October. 

• Many influencers lost the checkmark next to their name, causing widespread criticism of the new guidelines.

• Stories of verification loss on YouTube soon took over the internet, as thousands of YouTube creators received notice that they would no longer be verified, despite the hundreds of thousands of followers they had.

• YouTube still stands by their new verification restrictions, but will it last? And what does this mean for those YouTube creators whose careers depend on that little blue checkmark? 

The blue checkmark signifies authenticity, hard work, and creativity. It was never easy to become verified on YouTube, but with these new restrictions, many aspiring YouTube creators fear it has become impossible. 

The New YouTube Community Guidelines Policy

YouTube claims their intention is to minimize confusion as to what verification is and means. Yet, some of YouTube’s most popular creators lost their checkmark during this change in policy. Under the new guidelines, YouTube will be verifying YouTube creators who have “prominent channels and a clear need for proof of authenticity.” They went on to explain that those creators who are the most highly searched and hold a strong presence online will be given priority in terms of receiving verification.  

When Will YouTube Implement These New Guidelines?

YouTube announced the new criteria for verification in mid-September and have already notified those creators who will be losing their verification. Some creators who will lose their verification still have the blue checkmarks by their names, others have already lost their checkmark. This is because the new criteria for verification will be enforced starting in late October.  

YouTubers Affected by the New YouTube Community Guidelines Policy

Of the YouTube creators that have lost verification, many are confused due to the large following they hold. Jake Paul, for example, is a prominent figure in the YouTube community. He has expressed his concerns about the new criteria for verification after receiving notice that he would lose verification by the end of October. Jake Paul has over 19 million followers and recently lost his checkmark.

Ducky the gamer is another prominent YouTuber who has lost his verification on YouTube due to the new requirements. He recently tweeted his opinion on the matter, suggesting that the people behind the new criteria are clowns.

I worked for 8 years to build up my channel and grow a community just for YouTube to tell me that “I don’t meet the new criteria”

Y’all some clowns for this one 🤡🤡🤡@YouTube @YTCreators pic.twitter.com/4pGUecXpQW

— DuckyTheGamer (@duckybtw) September 19, 2019

If your favorite YouTube creator has lost their verification, do not fear! There is still hope. YouTube announces that YouTube creators who received notice of losing their verification can still appeal the decision before it takes full effect in October. Yet we are still stuck wondering, will these YouTube celebrities be safe? 

What Does This Mean Moving Forward? 

Some speculate the new verification requirements will cause a decline in YouTube users. Others speculate this change is meant to eliminate the channels pertaining to hate, conspiracy, and extremists. Regardless, this will be a major adjustment for many creators. Similar to Instagram threatening to take away likes, the removal of a creator’s verification could negatively affect the careers of popular YouTubers. Much of the backlash is due to the newfound segmentation of the highly followed and the average users. With these strict guidelines, users have expressed concern for the new barrier to visibility, and income. On September 20th, shortly after YouTube announced the new guidelines for verification, Susan Wojcicki tweeted an apology. She asked YouTubers to be patient and trust that YouTube is attempting to fix any mistakes they may have made in the de-verification process.

To our creators & users–I’m sorry for the frustration & hurt that we caused with our new approach to verification. While trying to make improvements, we missed the mark. As I write this, we're working to address your concerns & we’ll have more updates soon.

— Susan Wojcicki (@SusanWojcicki) September 20, 2019

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