Yes to “con”, “asshole” and “shit”, but “whore” in moderation: YouTube, owned by Google, has relaxed its rules in France on vulgar and rude words, two months after the bronca caused by the previous update up to date.
“Many words that were problematic will no longer trigger demonetization,” announced Romain Cabrolier, director of partnerships at YouTube France, who had promised in mid-January an adjustment to rules deemed too strict by many creators.
According to Google’s support page, “rather vulgar terms such as ‘bitch’, ‘cunt’, ‘asshole’ and ‘shit'”, as well as “most vulgar terms used in music video content or a stand-up,” can generate advertising revenue.
However, it is still forbidden to use “very rude” words such as “damn” in the first seven seconds of the video, in the title, in the cover image of the video or too frequently, under penalty of not being able to draw no revenue from its content.
“Censorship is screwing up the video”
YouTube uses algorithms to analyze the text and images of videos and remove content that is illegal or does not comply with its policies. Other rules aim to moderate content in order to protect advertisers who do not wish to have their brand associated with vulgar expressions.
With the gradual tightening of these rules, many creators have started to censor (beep) themselves more and more potentially prohibited expressions, in order to protect themselves against a demonetization which can be retroactive. The January update banned profanity in the first 15 seconds of the video.
“You should know that unless you are the most polite creator in the world, YouTube is really breaking our balls with its new rule of demonetizing swear words. This is ridiculous, censorship is screwing up the video and their rule is retroactive. A simple ‘Oh shit’ is enough to demonetize, ”complained videographer Terracid (Wankil Studio) on Twitter.