Block videos on YouTube

Citizens of many countries have disputes with other users or the Youtube administration regarding the publication of videos. The fact is that not all users comply with the law and platform policies.

To resolve the issue of blocking videos that violate the law or Youtube policy, there is a universal formula – a complaint to the Youtube administration. It doesn’t matter what country a person is in, the online platform will help remove content that violates the law.

Position of the Youtube administration

Youtube, like many online platforms, has its own rules for publishing videos. They comply with US law and international treaties.

“Community Guidelines help us keep YouTube safe. We generally remove infringing videos, but may make an exception for educational, documentary, scientific and artistic content.”

This is how YouTube prohibits publishing videos:

  1. Which violate a person’s privacy;
  2. Which violate copyrights;
  3. Which contain insults or threats:
  4. Containing slander against a person or organization;
  5. Containing sexual content.

As we can see, there are quite a few reasons for blocking videos. It’s worth starting by watching the video and analyzing it from a legal point of view.

Now let’s talk about each situation.

1.1 Copyright

There are quite a lot of copyright disputes on the Youtube platform, which is used by millions of users. The standard situation is someone uploaded your video without permission or used your music without permission.

The laws of many countries regarding copyright are similar. So, the author of the video is the one who first created and posted it.

In other words, what is important here is that you were the first to post your video on Youtube, and another user did it later and violated the author’s rights.

In addition, do not forget about exceptions in cases where publication does not constitute a violation of copyright. For example, quotation, use as a parody or caricature, necessity for justice and public policy, and so on. Each situation must be assessed individually.

To block such a video, we must provide the Youtube administration with proof that we were the first to post this video. We will provide instructions on how to write a complaint below.

1.2 Personal data

The Youtube online platform respects the privacy of its users. Publication of personal data is prohibited by law and the site administration.

Personal data is information that can be used to identify a person. His name, address, place of registration, passport details, phone number, email and even cookies.

However, there is a small nuance here. In its policy, Youtube states, “For you to be uniquely identified in a video, there must be sufficient personal information about you in the video.”

That is, in many cases it is not enough that a person was simply shown in a video for a couple of seconds.

A complaint about the removal of a video with personal data can only be submitted by the person whose data was published. The administration may ask you to confirm your identity and send a photo with your passport.

It is also worth noting a few more important points:

  1. A citizen has the right to privacy and respect from other persons and organizations;
  2. The fact of the spread is that the video received a lot of views;
  3. A citizen has the right to have a video with his data deleted, since he did not give a permission to publication.

1.3 Insults and threats

According to the official rules of the YouTube platform, threats and insults towards representatives of any categories of persons protected from discrimination are prohibited.

The platform prohibits publishing insults and threats based on gender, race, age, religion, disability, and so on.

The site administration will help you block a video if:

  1. repeatedly encourages viewers to engage in violence, insults or discrimination;
  2. systematically insults or disparages a group of people in its materials on the basis of their membership in a category of persons protected from discrimination.
  3. exposes persons protected from discrimination to threat of physical harm because of social or political opinions;
  4. for financial gain, systematically creates content that harms the YouTube community by inciting hostility against protected individuals.

If you work correctly with the Youtube administration, such videos will be deleted, and if the author receives three deletions in 90 days, his channel will also be deleted.

1.4 Spam and fraud

Some videos may violate Youtube’s anti-spam or anti-fraud rules. Let’s talk a little about this.

If a user publishes a video many times that asks to go to another harmful site and promises money or something else for it, then this is spam, and such videos should be blocked.

You also cannot publish videos with promises of cash gifts and quick riches, as well as attracting viewers to participate in financial pyramids. It’s called fraud.

1.5 Defamation

Youtube’s defamation policy comes from the fact that in many countries the legal definitions of defamation are similar. There are also international acts. “No one may be subjected to unlawful attacks on his honor and reputation.” Part 1. Art.17. UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

As a rule, defamation is the public dissemination of deliberately false information that discredits honor, dignity or reputation.

In other words, a video will be defamation if:

  1. The author published false information. It is not true;
  2. Information is directed against the honor and dignity of a person or the reputation of a company;
  3. There are statements of fact. For example, that the author of the video said that another person committed a crime or that the company is deceiving its employees.

In the complaint, the Youtube administration may ask for documents that confirm that the information is false.

2.1 Instructions for users

Now let’s move from theory to real practice. To block a video on Youtube that violates the law or platform policy, we must begin working with the site administration.

There are two ways to contact the administration.

  1. Complaint using the YouTube form (https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9996224?hl=en-&co=GENIE.CountryCode%3DUS&sjid=10742466658839819651-EU). You need to click “fill out the form”.
  2. Write to the official Youtube email. This may help draw attention to your problem. Here you can find contact details for the online platform. https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6154232?hl=en&sjid=10742466658839819651-EU

In the first case, in the Youtube complaint you need to select the country, write the full name, add the video URL, describe the problem and what law or official platform rule the video violates.

If you write to the official Youtube email, then you need to do the same. Now we will tell you about some things in more detail.

2.2 Legal position

The legal position is an important stage in our work to block videos on Youtube. This is our belief that the video violates the law plus references to the law.

For each individual dispute, you need to find the rules of law. For example, in the USA there is a law on copyright on Internet resources “The digital millennium copyright Art”.

There may also be international acts. For example, UN conventions or the Berne Copyright Convention.

Or you can appeal to the fact that this video violates the official privacy rules of Youtube and disseminates a person’s personal data.

2.3 Evidence

Of course, the Youtube administration will ask you why you think that the video violates the law or platform policy.

To do this, you need to provide the site administration with evidence. This could be documents, screenshots, proof of identity, or proof of content authorship.

Let’s give a few examples:

  1. Regarding the publication of personal data, you need a photo with your passport to confirm your identity;
  2. Defamation – you need documents that confirm that the information in the video is false;
  3. Copyright – it is enough that you were the first to post the video; you can attach a screenshot with the date. If your music was used, then this could be a document confirming authorship or the fact that you were the first to publish your work on a music platform (for example, Spotify).

3.1 Block access to videos through a search engine

Search engines have a similar policy to the video platform Youtube. Everything that is prohibited on Youtube is also prohibited for publication in a search engine.

That is why you can ask the search engine administration to block access to a video on Youtube, and users will not see it.

This is such a complaint, only to the administration of the search engine. You can use the instructions that we wrote about above and in the complaint to the search engine.

Here, for example, is the official policy of Google, below will be contact information. https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en#toc-intro

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is worth saying that it is possible and necessary to block videos that violate the law. Youtube has a fairly convenient form for this and always responds to users.

It is important to approach the issue correctly. Evaluate the situation from the point of view of the law, draw up a legal position, find evidence, explain everything to the administration and the video will be deleted.