The world’s largest video site is in the midst of a renewed crackdown on gun content that could have far-reaching consequences for those who make a living on the platform.
In the wake of YouTube revising its firearms policy, a number of high-profile channels that produce gun videos have voiced concerns the impact is more significant than expected. While the changes detailed in an update to the company’s firearms policy focused on home gun making and bump stock installation, a simultaneous unwritten change in how YouTube enforces an older restriction on gun and ammo dealer promotion has driven most of the backlash. YouTube confirmed to The Reload it had taken a more aggressive approach to deleting videos, and even whole channels, that direct viewers to websites where they can buy firearms, ammunition, or certain accessories–whether the videos provide direct written links or the host just verbally directs viewers to a website.
The company said it is working with creators to try and help them navigate the policy change.
“The recent updates to our firearms policy are part of our continued efforts to maintain policies that reflect the current state of content on YouTube,” a spokesperson for the company, who declined to be named, told The Reload. “For example, 3D printing has become more readily available in recent years so we’ve expanded our restrictions on content involving homemade firearms. We’ll continue to work with creators to help them understand this update and how they might manage its impact on their channels.”
The official comments from YouTube provide some level of added clarity to creators who make gun content on the platform. The new crackdown could imperil the businesses of many of those creators because YouTube will put a strike on each video that violates its gun policy, such as by including a sponsored link to a gun or ammo dealer, and three strikes within 90 days result in channels being completely deleted. Since many gun media companies on YouTube have a backlog of hundreds of videos, the enforcement focus change could result in many videos being flagged at once without specific forewarning.
A pair of YouTube spokespeople told The Reload it generally doesn’t issue retroactive strikes on videos uploaded before an announced policy change. While they said the link policy that has caused the most consternation among creators was implemented in 2018, they also said videos uploaded before the June 18th changes are unlikely to be flagged for spoken links. The spokespeople defended the company’s moderation practices, the bulk of which are automated, as largely accurate but said there wouldn’t be any new processes to prevent videos from before the deadline from being flagged.
YouTube’s enforcement policies and practices have been controversial for creators of all stripes for years. That has been especially true for gun content, with criticism from gun channels and gun-control advocates alike. Even when content creators have complied with the company’s policies, they have sometimes faced strikes or channel deletion due to what YouTube claimed were internal enforcement errors. Last year, the company told The Reload videos that included silencers were taken down by accident when mid-level moderators were given the wrong instructions on how to enforce the platform’s rules on the sound suppressing devices.
“Upon review, we determined the videos in question are not violative of our Community Guidelines and have reinstated them,” a YouTube spokesperson told The Reload in February 2023. “When it’s brought to our attention that content has been mistakenly removed, we review it and take appropriate action, including reinstating and removing associated strikes.”
Many of the most prominent gun channels have raised the alarm about the most recent changes and how they might deteriorate their video productions. Hickok45, who has nearly eight million subscribers, released a dire video warning the policy update and focus on spoken links to gun or ammo dealers put them “at the risk of losing everything.” The channel, run by a retired teacher Greg Kinman and his son in rural Tennessee, posted an update noting they’d talked to YouTube representatives and figured out a path forward despite still saying they believe the more than 2,700 videos they’ve made over the years are still in jeopardy.
Other channels were more direct in their criticism of the policy, including the way it will severely limit sponsorship opportunities for gun creators and the industry.
“YouTube once again has changed policies that will further stifle gun content creators,” Jon Patton, host of The Gun Collective, said in a video about the changes. “We’ve seen this before, but this is worse than normal. This time, it could kill the entire gun industry.”
The relatively vague nature of YouTube’s content policies, which the company defended as necessary to foil bad actors looking to skirt its rules, has also been a sticking point for creators for years. That remains one of the top complaints in the new controversy.
“This policy doesn’t exist in writing anywhere,” Patton said of the link policy. “We can’t even fully understand what is or is not acceptable.”
To that point, the YouTube spokespeople who talked to The Reload said the policy against linking or directing viewers to websites that sell certain items includes ammunition dealers, even though the company’s written policy doesn’t list them. Instead, the written policy bars links to sites that sell accessories that either “enable a firearm to simulate automatic fire” or “convert a firearm to automatic fire” and sites that sell “high capacity magazines or belts carrying more than 30 rounds.” The written policy does have a disclaimer that the enumerated restrictions don’t represent “a complete list,” though.
YouTube did not have a clear answer on where promotions for gun or ammo dealers that didn’t call out direct links, such as advertising discount codes, are treated under the linking policy. However, the spokespeople who talked to The Reload said general sponsorships by gun or ammo companies may be allowed, but any effort to direct people to sites they can purchase guns or ammo through could be considered a violation of the policy.
“None of this stuff about sponsorship is on their firearms policy page at all,” Patton said. “This unwritten policy will kill The Gun Collective.”
Beyond demonetizing or adding strikes to videos featuring certain gun content, YouTube said it planned to age-restrict some content. The company said videos featuring the use of automatic or homemade weapons, as well as magazines that hold more than 30 rounds of ammo, would be limited to only viewers over the age of 18. It also said those rules wouldn’t apply to fictional videos or videos in the public interest, such as news stories or police and military footage.
The company claimed the recent policy changes were not the result of any specific recent event, such as the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, or pressure from government officials, such as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s (D.) recent letter calling for YouTube to restrict homemade gun videos. It said the firearms policy change took months to finalize and implement. The spokespeople who talked to The Reload said YouTube consulted outside experts when deciding on the updates, including what it called law enforcement and public safety “stakeholders,” but wouldn’t identify which groups it worked with. They described those kinds of outside consultations as common for policy changes affecting any kind of content on the platform.
