YouTuber Philip DeFranco recently had several of his videos removed from YouTube’s Adsense program for “excessive strong language” or not being “advertiser-friendly.” This means that DeFranco will not be able to generate ad-revenue from the videos which were demonetized for violating YouTube’s guidelines, even if he boosts his video views or ad impressions.
To date, 12 of DeFranco’s videos have been demonetized by YouTube for guideline violations this year alone, and DeFranco has accused YouTube of censorship. DeFranco’s channel specializes in Vlogs with his opinion on various topics such as Chris Brown’s police video.
DeFranco states in his video on the situation:
"It seems by covering the real, raw news story and not, like, watering it down, I got into trouble. How are you supposed to cover news?”
DeFranco’s response
So far, the YouTuber has not decided whether to close the channel but with YouTube’s strict three-strike policy on guideline violations it is very likely that he will be keeping his content on YouTube after saying to Vox: “YouTube is my home. Without YouTube I wouldn't have a career.”
Philip DeFranco has even took to Twitter to share his thoughts on this. At the end of his video, he recommended viewers to subscribe and follow him on social media to keep up with the channel’s activities.
Update: At least 12 more of my videos have been hit and I'm nowhere near done. This might be part of the reason. Wow pic.twitter.com/2i6msEMv7M
— Philip DeFranco (@PhillyD) August 31, 2016
After contacting YouTube, DeFranco received a reply on the shutdown of monetization on his videos and tweeted about it:
Youtube: This isn't a policy change, its just a notification/appeal change.
— Philip DeFranco (@PhillyD) September 1, 2016
Me: So before you were just turning off ads and not emailing us?
In his video DeFranco added that he designed his business to have backup plans for revenue in case YouTube turned on him. Even with the 12 videos which were demonetized he should still remain profitable with his online merchandise store and other income sources.
Don't worry though. I built the show and secondary $$$ sources for this exact reason. You never know when your platform will turn on you.
— Philip DeFranco (@PhillyD) August 31, 2016
Should he push to decentralized media platforms?
With YouTube’s latest policies and guidelines, YouTubers such as DeFranco could have difficulty in the future in continuing to publish the no “advertiser-friendly” content. If he does decide to leave YouTube he could consider using a decentralized media platform to stop a third-party from controlling what is allowed to be shown.
Several of these platforms already have built-in revenue streams for publishers, such as micropayments. Platforms like Decent are preparing for ICOs and are allowing users to buy content directly from the author using the Blockchain. LBRY even offer rewards for publishers who join their platform.
Since all of these are decentralized, there is no way that a third-party can take down the content and therefore it can only be done by the publisher. This stops censorship of content and encourages freedom of speech and thought.
Micropayments have already been proven to be worth the hassle according to PopChest. PopChest’s first major YouTuber reeled in $1,283 in Bitcoin with just 5,132 views, confirming that if the content is interesting, people will pay to view it.