xQc Calls Out YouTube Over Latest Suspension
YouTube has once again drawn the ire of one of the biggest content creators on the internet over its seemingly random bans. This time, prominent Twitch streamer xQc, who uploads past streams and clips to YouTube, has been hit with a suspension. xQc is no stranger to being banned, since it has happened to him on nearly every platform he's active on. However, xQc claimed to be unsure why YouTube issued the latest ban.
"Hey @YouTubeCreators my account got an [unjustified] and unrelated strike on a video which bars me from uploading for two weeks. Could I get a manual review on this please? Also, lots of videos are getting unnecessarily [demonetized] lately. I think somethings gotta be up. Thank you!" xQc said on Twitter. Streamer Ludwig, who is also no stranger to being banned on the platform, replied in the comments, trying to get YouTube to notice the tweet.
xQc's two-week suspension may seem like an intense punishment on top of the alleged demonetization of multiple videos, especially when the creator said he wasn't sure why the ban occurred. YouTube eventually responded to xQc on Twitter, but this just raised more questions.
YouTube says xQc's ban resulted from a community guideline violation
"Following up & correction – we misunderstood you in the earlier tweet, so sorry (you were talking about CG strike, not copyright strike) we've escalated this to the relevant team and we'll let you know when we get a response. Thanks for your patience!!!" the TeamYouTube Twitter account replied after previously stating it was looking into the situation. xQc has yet to tweet back, however the claim that the ban was for a community guideline violation might mean that it was legitimate.
xQc gave additional information in the pinned comment of his latest video. He clarified that it was indeed a ban for violating community guidelines, but alleged that it was for a video that was over two years old. While guideline violations are less likely to be false than copyright strikes, it can create issues when these suspensions spawn from older videos, especially if the community guidelines have been updated since the video was originally uploaded.
While not the same problem, prominent YouTube creators like PewDiePie have criticized YouTube's copyright claim rules and its other automated takedowns, asserting that these systems can easily be abused and that YouTube isn't quick to undo the damage. xQc has not made a follow-up tweet since trying to get the YouTube team to help him. His most recent upload at the time of this writing is from before the tweet, so it appears that he is still banned from the platform.