YouTube Under Fire from Independent Creators over #VoxAdpocalypse

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and YouTube head Susan Wojcicki
Scott Olson/Getty
Lucas Nolan

YouTube has begun demonetizing any content deemed to “brush up” against its rules following complaints from Vox journalist Carlos Maza. The backlash by independent video creators, politicians, and site users against the Google-owned platform, called #VoxAdpocalypse, became the top trend on Twitter.

Vox writer and video host Carlos Maza recently called for conservative commentator Steven Crowder to be removed from YouTube, claiming that Crowder repeatedly directed homophobic slurs at him. Maza took to Twitter to call Crowder out and pressure YouTube to take action, claiming that despite being used to “online harassment,” Crowder had been “bothering him.”

Crowder defended himself stating that his comments were jokes and “harmless ribbing” in a video he released earlier this week. However, critics still called for him to be banned from the platform. YouTube was quiet about the situation for some time but has finally responded, stating that although Crowder’s language was “hurtful,” it did not violate the site’s policies.

But one day later, YouTube reversed its previous statements by demonetizing Crowder’s account, preventing him from making money from ads placed on his videos. In a tweet, YouTube said “We have suspended this channel’s monetization. We came to this decision because a pattern of egregious actions has harmed the broader community and is against our YouTube Partner Program policies.”

But the demonetization of Crowder was only one part of a much larger campaign by YouTube, which included demonetizing independent journalist Ford Fischer, banning a history teacher who posted Nazi propaganda speeches for educational use, and banning or demonetizing a wide variety of left-wing and right-wing channels.

Conservatives have now taken to Twitter to express their anger over YouTube’s further attempts to demonetize conservative content on its platform. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) called the move “ridiculous” and told YouTube to “stop playing god.”

Comedian Jimmy Dore noted that independent journalist Ford Fischer had his account demonetized as a result of the new “Adpocalypse” as he has previously reported on activism and extremism.

One America News Network host Jack Posobiec posted a video to his Twitter account detailing his simple plan to fix the issue of censorship on social media, “break them up,” Posobiec chants:

Radio show host Dan Bongino highlighted some previous tweets made by Maza in which he called for the harassment of conservatives:

Video game developer Mark Kern reminds readers that like Twitter banning people for tweeting “learn to code” at journalists, the Masters of the Universe seem sensitive about criticism of journalists.

Independent journalist Tim Pool noted that Maza was attempting to distance himself from any blame in the situation:

Adam22, an Internet personality and host of the rap-themed podcast No Jumper, also called Maza out for his role in YouTube’s crackdown:

Despite causing the #VoxAdpocalypse by complaining about YouTube’s rules, Maza has continued to complain. In a recent thread, Maza seems unable to comprehend YouTube’s decision to allow certain insults and epithets in videos:

YouTube does not appear to be backing down on this issue but has faced intense backlash from creators on the platform. Breitbart News will continue to report on this story as it develops.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com

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