NEW: YouTube Community Guidelines System

We understand that getting a YouTube Community guideline strike can be disappointing and worrying for creators. We know that creators often don't break the rules intentionally and just want to get back to making great content. That's why we've put together options for you to learn about our guidelines and resolve warnings you receive when violations do happen. Let's walk you through what each of these options are and what they mean for you and your Channel.

Quick Reminder: What Are Community Guidelines?

YouTube's Community Guidelines outline what type of content is and isn't allowed on YouTube. There are a number of community guidelines, such as our impersonation policy, child safety policy, harassment policy, and many more. These policies apply to all types of content on YouTube and help ensure our community stays protected.

What Happens if You Violate YouTube's Community Guidelines?

We've designed a system with guardrails in place to ensure creators have sufficient opportunities to learn from mistakes and make more informed decisions about their content without fear of penalty. When you violate one of our community guidelines, you'll first receive a warning.

Reviewing Your Warning

Once you're notified about your warning, you can review it to find out what policy you violated and what next steps you can take. You'll have three options:

Option 1: You can take a policy training, which will allow your warning to expire after 90 days if you don't violate that same policy again within that time frame.
Option 2: You can appeal the warning if you think the violation was given incorrectly.
Option 3: You can do nothing and keep the lifetime warning on your channel.

Note that there's also flexibility with these options. You can choose to take the training and still also decide to appeal, or if you appeal and it's rejected, you can still take the training at that point.

Benefits of Taking the Training

In the cases where you choose not to appeal or you don't successfully appeal, we strongly encourage creators to take the training because it comes with additional benefits. It not only allows you to potentially remove the current warning from your channel but it also grants you an additional warning if you violate a different Community Guidelines policy. This gives you more opportunities to learn and avoid account restrictions in the future.

Example Scenario

Let's say you violate one of our Community Guidelines for the first time. You'll receive a warning and you'll be presented with the three options. If you complete the training and don't receive any Community Guidelines violations for any policies within 90 days, your warning will expire and you'll be back to good standing.

If you complete the training and you do receive a Community Guidelines violation for a different policy within 90 days, you'll receive another warning and you'll have the chance to take a new training specifically for that policy. If you choose not to take the training and do nothing, any additional violation for any policy will result in a Community Guidelines strike.

Note that after your warning, if you do violate the same policy again within 90 days, you will receive a Community Guidelines strike even if you completed the training. Remember, if you originally decide to do nothing but then change your mind, you'll always have the opportunity to appeal or to take the training.

Community Guidelines Strikes

Now let's walk through what happens when you get a Community Guidelines strike:

First Strike: You won't be able to upload, stream, or make certain edits on your channel for one week after you review the strike. After the one-week period, we restore full privileges automatically but the strike remains on your channel for 90 days.
Second Strike: If you get a second strike within the same 90-day period as your first strike, you will not be allowed to post content for two weeks. If there are no further issues after the two-week period, we restore full privileges automatically. Each strike will not expire until 90 days from the time it was issued.
Permanent Removal: Three strikes in the same 90-day period result in your channel being permanently removed from YouTube.

We understand mistakes happen and many creators don't violate our policies intentionally. So, we hope this system gives creators the chance to learn more about our Community Guidelines to help prevent violations moving forward and to keep our YouTube community safe.

To learn more about Community Guidelines and their enforcement, check out the links in the description. Thanks for watching.

Keywords

YouTube
Community Guidelines
Strike
Warning
Policy Training
Appeal
Content Restrictions

FAQ

Q: What are YouTube's Community Guidelines?

A: YouTube's Community Guidelines outline what type of content is and isn't allowed on YouTube to ensure the community stays protected.

Q: What happens if I violate a Community Guideline?

A: If you violate a Community Guideline, you'll first receive a warning with options to take policy training, appeal the warning, or do nothing.

Q: How can I resolve a warning?

A: You can either complete policy training, appeal the warning, or keep the warning by doing nothing.

Q: What are the benefits of taking the policy training?

A: Completing the training can potentially remove the current warning and grant an additional warning for a different policy violation in the future.

Q: What happens if I get a Community Guidelines strike?

A: A first strike restricts your ability to upload, stream, or edit for a week. A second strike within 90 days restricts posting for two weeks. Three strikes within 90 days will result in permanent removal of the channel.

Q: Can I appeal a strike or warning?

A: Yes, you can appeal if you believe the violation was given incorrectly.