YouTube may delete your account if it is not “commercially viable”
YouTube sent last week to email users, announcing that inform the terms of use of the site by December 10 in order to be more understandable and simple language. This is the intention at least, as some parts could not have been more vague.
Specifically, the section ” Account Suspension & Termination ” states :
YouTube may terminate your access to or access to the Google Account throughout or part of the Service if YouTube believes that the provision of the Service to you is no longer commercially viable.
YouTube is updating their Terms of Service on 10 December, 2019. It presents an awful possibility for the future of creators on the platform. It seems they will be able to terminate your channel if it’s “no longer commercially viable.”https://t.co/UrVpXmq4k5 pic.twitter.com/aHIV3XbsRN— Kizzume (@Kizzume) November 8, 2019
A simple reading suggests the logical conclusion that YouTube can delete a user’s account if it does not make any money from it. And this is true for ordinary users, not just content creators.
It could certainly be a way for YouTube to retain the right to remove users and channels that propagate hate speech and terrorist messages. However, the wording is so vague that no safe conclusions can be drawn.
As expected, user reactions are strong, with the issue on Reddit reaching 50,000 upvotes and 3,300 comments, and Twitter posts have thousands of retweets, asking YouTube to clarify its position.
