Cryptocurrency Video Removals is a Mistake, YouTube Says

This follows YouTubes’ recent removal of Vitalik Buterin‘s “Roadmap” video as well. Sources say that a YouTube Spokesperson said that it had made “the wrong call”. Sources also say that the video-sharing giant said:

“With the massive volume of videos on our site, sometimes we make the wrong call. When it’s brought to our attention that a video has been removed mistakenly, we act quickly to reinstate it. We also offer uploaders the ability to appeal removals and we will re-review the content,” 

 The video-sharing giant issued similar statements on the issue. An outcry by many within the crypto space about the removal of cryptocurrency-related videos on YouTube changed things. YouTube said that hasn’t been any change in their policies concerning the crypto space. YouTubers who are heavily into cryptocurrencies claim otherwise.

Chris Dunn is a prominent YouTube cryptocurrency expert. He is a YouTube cryptocurrency expert who has more than 200,000 members. He says that a lot of his videos haven’t been restored following his appeal to the YouTube administrators concerning the issue. YouTube is yet to respond to the issue. Several videos are still missing from Chris’s channel. 

The Cryptospace Remains Targeted

There are many rumors surrounding Chris’s allegations. Chris has said that YouTube may not be directly responsible for the deletions. He has said that it may also be the work of detractors that maliciously report videos. Bots driven by errors in artificial intelligence programming also come into play.

.@YouTube just removed most of my crypto videos citing “harmful or dangerous content” and “sale of regulated goods”… it’s been 10 years of making videos, 200k+ subs, and 7M+ views. WTF are you guys doing @TeamYouTube?! pic.twitter.com/MPcKbBVrC4

— Chris Dunn (@ChrisDunnTV) December 23, 2019

YouTube flags videos it deems inappropriate under various circumstances. The video-sharing giant considers videos within the cryptocurrency space as either “harmful or dangerous content” or the “sale of regulated goods.” Chris has said that he neither sells goods or services on his channel nor monetizes them by offering promotional content.

This isn’t the only policy change that YouTube is undergoing. YouTube also demonetized videos depicting the current political crisis in Hong Kong as Chris also noted. A change in its official terms of service also indicates a change in this.

“YouTube may terminate your access, or your Google account’s access to all or part of the Service if YouTube believes, in its sole discretion, that provision of the Service to you is no longer commercially viable,” 

YouTube has said that the banned videos in moderation will be restored based on users’ requests on the restoration itself. This shows that cryptocurrency video removals may continue in the long run.

Chris has also said that this may mean that YouTube may terminate account holders who don’t make money from their channels. Chris has also indicated that he may leave the video-sharing giant for decentralized content sharing platforms that won’t delete users’ content. 

Cryptocurrency Video Removals are Only the Beginning

This isn’t the only anti-crypto stance that Alphabet Inc. has shown. Reports show that Googles’ play store has also suspended the Metamask extension which is an open-source extension that links to the Ethereum blockchain. 

In the last week, the MetaMask Android client was suspended by the Google Play App Store @googleplaydev. They cited their policy that bans mining on mobile, which we don’t. Appeal rejected. #ProtectWeb3.https://t.co/rfP4EbOAqv!?zippy_activeEl=cryptocurrencies%23cryptocurrencies

— MetaMask (@metamask_io) December 26, 2019

The suspension of popular Chrome browser extension to the Ethereum blockchain Metamask shows a negative attitude by Alphabet towards cryptocurrencies. Google had cited “deceptive services” as part of the reasons for banning the extension. Sources say that Metamask had appealed the suspension but Google had refused it. Google has shown its recent policy banning “cryptocurrency mining”. Co-developer of Metamask Dan Findlay said:

“I very much hope that this was an honest mistake on the part of Google’s reviewers, but in combination with all the crypto YouTube bans, it definitely puts me at disease about how Google is engaging with decentralizing technologies. If people accept this behavior from a mobile monopoly like Google, we may not deserve something better.”

The future is cryptocurrencies. Alphabet must step up to the plate. It must encourage the growth of the future. It too once was rejected by others in the technology space.