The YouTube channel of Bitcoin Magazine was reset about three hours after its shutdown, and the post attributed the brief shutdown to YouTube’s algorithm flagging the word “Kazakhstan.”
In a Twitter post on January 12, Bitcoin Magazine noted that its YouTube account, with 56,600 followers, was shut down in the middle of a livestream without notice from the platform.
“Our @YouTube account with 60,000 followers was just shut down in the middle of a livestream without warning. DELETED. When will the assault on Bitcoin content end?”
The livestream focused on topics related to Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, Bitcoin (BTC) mining, and the recent Internet blackout in Kazakhstan which was reportedly started by the government in response to massive protests over rising fuel prices in the nation.
Bitcoin Magazine stated that it was not entirely sure of the reasons YouTube had used to close its channel, but it was confirmed that your account had been restored within an hour of filing an appeal, which suggests that YouTube had realized its mistake.
In a live broadcast after the reset, the presenter Alex Mcshane noted that the panel was discussing the effect of the internet blackout on the hash rate of BTC mining without saying anything controversial, but was using a set of “algorithmically and politically loaded words” that could have triggered the automatic shutdown. :
“I want to talk about what happened, but without triggering it again […]We were talking about a certain politically charged country that begins with a ‘K’. “
Bitcoin Magazine also shared a post earlier today noting YouTube’s initial response regarding the shutdown; the Google-owned platform stated that “content that encourages illegal activities or incites users to violate YouTube’s guidelines is not allowed.”
“We may allow representations of such activities if they are educational or documentary in nature and do not help others to imitate them.”, add the answer.
Despite its content policy, current YouTube searches continue to return results showing multiple live streams using the identity and video content of popular figures like MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor to promote dubious websites and alleged “cryptocurrency” scams.
Commenting on the closure on the r / CryptoCurrency subreddit, user u / Setl1less highlighted the hypocrisy, arguing that “YouTube has made a habit of shutting down prominent news accounts” while allowing scams to operate freely.
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