YouTube ‘censors’ NZ sex videos

Kiwi YouTubers say their freedom of speech is being ‘‘stifled’’, reports Ryan Dunlop.

Kiwis who post videos online featuring ‘‘contentious issues’’ like sex, drugs and political speech could be hit in the pocket as YouTube clamps down on users and advertising.

Although users who upload videos to YouTube can earn money by including adverts, New Zealander ’’Jay’’, whose 191,000 subscribers would recognise as ‘‘Dolan Dark’’, said he was now unable to make money from two of his videos because they had not been deemed ‘‘advertiser friendly’’ under new regulations.

‘‘I had one of my videos demonetised, unfortunately, solely because it featured footage of a man smoking from a bong for no longer than 10 seconds,’’ he said.

The other video had advertising banned for having the word ‘‘sex’’ in the title – and once that word was removed he was able to start earning advertising more.

Jay, who describes his videos as satirical, said he understood YouTube scanned video titles for keywords which were not advertiser-friendly.

‘‘It’s a kind of censorship. You are discouraged from coming back and creating that content again,’’ said Jay.

Other YouTubers have also raised concerns that the new restrictions could have a ‘‘huge effect’’ on opinion and contentious issues.

Josh Lawrence, whose has 299,000 subscribers, videos hadn’t been because they’re ‘‘PG’’.

But he said the changes could stifle people who spoke out about It’s a kind of censorship, you are discouraged from coming back and creating that content again. revenue once channel said his affected politics subjects suicide.

‘‘Freedom of speech is important and I use YouTube to keep myself informed,’’ he said.

Lawrence said in one of his profitable months, in October 2015, he had earned $1400 for a collective watch time of 8.7 million minutes and 3.5 million views.

Other users – like Jay’s friend in the United States who runs the channel Pyrocynical – have a higher number of viewers and have been hit in the pocket hard.

‘‘He’s usually earning about $US50,000 each month so when his videos got demonetised he would have lost about that.’’

Johnson & Laird, a talent agency representing some of the country’s biggest YouTube accounts like Jamie’s World, which has 1.3 million subscribers, and Shaaanxo, who has 2.7m subscribers, said although their clients were not affected, the new restrictions could stunt conversation online.

Julie Cooper, senior talent agent, said she had no formal warning before the rules were tightened.

‘‘It will mostly affect or restrict content creators that focus on news and pop culture.

YouTube creators can still share their stories, however monetising won’t be an option,’’ she said.

A spokesperson for YouTube said the policy of demonetising videos due to advertiser-friendly concerns hasn’t changed.

‘‘We’ve recently improved the notification and appeal process to ensure better communication.’’ and like tackled difficult cyber bullying or

‘‘Jay’’