r/canadaguns • u/Batsinvic888 Bats888 on YouTube • 4d ago
News / Politics / Activism YouTube has kneecapped and borderline ended firearms creators
YouTube just announced a new "branded content policy".
This policy prohibits all 3rd-party ads or products given to creators that are firearm- or ammunition-related. Think of TFB TV's product segments for example. The punishment for not disclosing it and uploading anyway is to have the video removed. It is also a crime to not disclose these things in most modern countries (Canada included).
If this is retroactive, we are about to see a truly insane number of channels get deleted and waves of age-restricted videos. If it isn't, we're going to slowly see the dying of the firearms community on YouTube. Like all creators who make their primary living from this, the majority of revenue comes from 3rd parties, not Google Ads. You can still earn Google Ad revenue without 3rd party ads, however, that is a tiny amount compared to 3rd party products of payments. I recommend looking at Linus Tech Tips' breakdown of revenue; it's informative. Firearms content is especially expensive to make.
The only content that will be left will be hobbyist content if this is fully enforced. By that, I mean content like mine where 90% of it comes from my own pockets, and it's part of a hobby I already do. Being a firearms creator as a career will now be borderline impossible. Those who already have a big following can go to other platforms and be okay.
I will still make videos, but I will be impacted by this both in the videos I can make and in any hope of this being more than a hobby.
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u/Borealbound 4d ago
I am glad you are bringing this to people’s attention. I wish that some of the YouTube alternatives like rumble or Bitchute were more successful and as a result enticed more creators to at least cross post on those platforms. A wise creator would try to back their stuff up on the internet archive or wayback machine. Doesn’t do anything to help people new to these sort Of things find them.
I mean I remember years and years ago seeing a video with this dude with a ponytail firing a Volksturm rifle into a makeshift shooting range made out of a bricks in a basement somewhere, little did I know he would have become one of my favourite channels, one which I have watched almost every video he has done.
https://youtu.be/anW7HWFlueg?is=mAE01UoNGXyy5-jv You might want to check his channel out if you haven’t, it’s pretty cool.