Implications of Forthcoming YouTube Policy Updates on Gaming Content

YouTube is looking to update their policies so as to better differentiate between real-world violence and gaming violence. In her quarterly letter,  the platform’s CEO said the policy changes look to include fewer restrictions on violence in gaming content and matching interested advertisers with ‘edgier content’.

The existing policy has seen a crackdown on violent and “mature” content, which is often prone to demonetisation or being flagged for removal. At the moment, footage of real-world violence and simulated graphic violence in video games are treated the same on the platforms. This has led to frustration among YouTubers who produce gaming content, as they have been less likely to receive ad revenue unless they were playing something obviously family friendly. Perhaps the new policies to come will be beneficial to YouTubers who want to produce more adult-oriented gaming content.

The quarterly letter also addressed other issues including:

• Changes to treatment of data for children’s content as part of a settlement YouTube made back in September with the US FTC over violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (‘COPPA’), including requirements for creators to mark videos directed at kids;
• Progress in relatino to addressing aggressive copyright claims on the platform by rightsholders, especially for short music clips in monetised videos;
• Securing liability protections under the EU Copyright Directive, which is now being implemented into member-states’ national laws;
• Expansion of YouTube’s Self Certification pilot to enable content creators to self-report how their videos comply with ad policies.

All in all, quite a few interesting developments look to be coming to YouTube; we’ll have to wait and see how things unfold. Read the CEO’s letter in this blog post.