YouTube Temporarily Demonetizes Dave Rubin Interview with Thomas Sowell

YouTube reportedly demonetized an interview with Dave Rubin of the popular internet show the Rubin Report and American political philosopher and author Thomas Sowell. The video was monetized shortly after Rubin publicly demanded an explanation from YouTube.

Dave Rubin, the host of the Rubin Report, an internet series in which Rubin interviews a number of media and internet personalities, took to Twitter to reveal that an interview he conducted with political philosopher and author Thomas Sowell had been demonetized. When a video is demonetized, it means that the creator of the video no longer receives a percentage of ad revenue — a primary source of income for many YouTuber creators and internet content developers.

Rubin called for YouTube to explain the demonetization of the interview in two tweets, in one Rubin stated: “Just finish fun event at @Dartmouth and my guys showed me that Part 1 with Thomas Sowell was demonetized. It had been monetized which means a human went back in and hit it. What the actual fuck @TeamYouTube? Or Does the algorithm pass things and then get them if they succeed?”

Just finish fun event at @dartmouth and my guys showed me that Part 1 with Thomas Sowell was demonetized. It had been monetized which means a human went back in and hit it. What the actual fuck @TeamYouTube? Or Does the algorithm pass things and then get them if they succeed? pic.twitter.com/C6mCf8MdtK

— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) April 20, 2018

The second tweet from Rubin further pushed YouTube to publicly explain why the video was no longer receiving ad revenue: “Would love a public response on this @TeamYouTube. The video was monetized already so what happened? Did manual review get it after it passed the algorithm? What is not suitable for advertisers about this conversation?”

Would love a public response on this @TeamYouTube. The video was monetized already so what happened? Did manual review get it after it passed the algorithm? What is not suitable for advertisers about this conversation? https://t.co/XGuCZWfIPx

— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) April 20, 2018

YouTube’s content moderation team replied to Rubin stating that the yellow icon that indicated a video has been demonetized had been added by their system and they had yet to manually review the video:

Checked the video, the automated system recently applied a yellow icon–a video's classification may change after it's published as our systems continue to analyze more info from the video: https://t.co/zOwXaFAF6S. This video has yet to be manually reviewed, so please request one!

— Team YouTube (@TeamYouTube) April 20, 2018

Rubin requested further explanation asking if their system routinely processes videos twice and will he lose the money that the video already earned from advertising revenue:

Can you explain what that means…a video makes it through the system and then gets looked at again by the system? What’s the difference the second time around? Also once you demonetize do we lose the money we already earned?

— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) April 20, 2018

YouTube replied that videos are processed for possible changes multiple times and that Rubin would be allowed to keep any money earned so far from advertising revenue:

Yes a video gets looked at multiple times by the system, it's looking at the same things but checking if the video has changed (description, etc) or if context around the video has changed. Also, you don't lose money that you've already earned. Let us know if you have other q's!

— Team YouTube (@TeamYouTube) April 20, 2018

Rubin has now reported that the video has once again been monetized but YouTube was not forthcoming with further clarification on why it was demonetized in the first place:

Update: Sowell video was monetized. Still hope to hear from @teamyoutube what caused the demonetization in the first place and what “context around the video” means. That’s a new piece of the puzzle… https://t.co/jQ2Zq5CZ46

— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) April 20, 2018

YouTube has been accused of censoring conservatives in the past, popular YouTube star Carl Benjamin — better known by his online pseudonym Sargon of Akkad — was locked out of his Google account. Benjamin told Breitbart News, “As James Damore’s lawsuit against Google has shown, the entire company is riddled with a far-left ideological orthodoxy that has taken hold to a radical degree.” He continued: “Google’s active suppression of individualist ideas within its own ranks has caused classical liberal and conservative commentators to be considered as far-right as Nazis, and are being treated with the same kind of prejudice and ruthlessness.”

InfoWars has also faced demonetization or account banning on YouTube, InfoWars Editor-at-Large and YouTube star Paul Joseph Watson commented on the issue to Breitbart News saying: “Google is a monopoly, and its anti-free speech policies are beginning to erode the sanctity of civil discourse. We need some kind of constitutional amendment or mass movement, such as the one against SOPA, in order to re-assert the supremacy of free expression. YouTube admitting they made a ‘mistake’ in terminating some accounts and content does offer a glimmer of hope that there are some rational actors within the company.”

He continued to say: “However, this speaks to the wider phenomenon of how society has become so coddled and infantilized, that stridently challenging the views of public figures is now being treated as ‘bullying’ and ‘harassment.’”