YouTube eases monetisation rules for controversial content

AP:

YouTube is updating its guidelines for videos containing content that advertisers define as controversial, allowing more creators to earn full ad revenue when they tackle sensitive issues in a non-graphic way.

With the update that went into effect Tuesday, YouTube videos that dramatise or cover issues including domestic abuse, self-harm, suicide, adult sexual abuse, abortion and sexual harassment without graphic descriptions or imagery are now eligible for full monetisation.

Ads will remain restricted on videos that include content on child abuse, child sex trafficking and eating disorders.

The changes were outlined in a video posted to the Creator Insider YouTube channel on Tuesday, and the advertiser-friendly content guidelines were also updated with specific definitions and examples.

"We want to ensure the creators who are telling sensitive stories or producing dramatised content have the opportunity to earn ad revenue while respecting advertiser choice and industry sentiment," said Conor Kavanagh, YouTube's head of monetisation policy experience, in the video announcing the changes. "We took a closer look and found our guidelines in this area had become too restrictive and ended up demonetising uploads like dramatised content."

The update also makes personal accounts of these sensitive issues, as well as preventative content and journalistic coverage on these subjects, eligible for full monetisation.

The Google-owned company said the degree of graphic or descriptive detail in videos wasn't previously considered when determining advertiser friendliness.

Some creators would attempt to bypass these policies on YouTube and other platforms by using workaround language or substituting symbols and numbers for letters in written text -- the most prevalent example across social platforms has been the use of the term "unalive."

YouTube has updated its policies in response to creator feedback before. In July, the company eased its monetisation policy regarding profanity, making videos that use strong profanity in the first seven seconds eligible for full ad revenue.