My favorite youtuber had 80% of his income coming from youtube before this change (he's set up a patreon in response) and he explained how it works. Youtube handles what ads are applied to which videos. All the youtuber has to do is decide if they want the ads at the beginning of the video, the end of the video, or in the middle some where if the video is extra long (or some combo of the 3). The youtuber doesn't have to speak to the company selling the add at all. So they don't have to change their messaging whatsoever to appease those companies. As long as they were getting good view numbers they were fine.

They are indirectly dependent to produce content that will not upset the private platform they're making their money with. That's the thing when you use 3rd parties to make money, they write the rules. I don't think anyone has the right to do what they want on a private store front.

That's like taking up a loan and then complaining about paying interest. Or complaining to your boss that you don't get a raise for doing the work in a way that's damaging to the business. 

So yeah, people will just have to deal with this shit until they're popular enough to switch to Patreon. They wouldn't even have publicity without youtube in the first place.

I think perhaps the biggest issue is the logic behind what type of content seems to be getting demonetized. The fact that you can lose ads simply because you talked about or reported on something related to atheism for example is quite distressing in my opinion. It just comes off as trying to restrict specific kind of content because some people don't agree with what it's saying.

I know a lot of people are saying that this isn't stopping them from still creating that content, but losing a source of income, however meager it may have been for some can result in many of them simply deciding its just not worth the time and effort anymore. This can result in Youtube becoming an echo chamber of just one specific type of opinion, and as someone who likes to watch and follow various different types of people with very differing opinions, losing that diversity would be a huge loss.

Professional journalism, even online, shouldn't rely on YouTube, where their contents get mixed with an overwhelming amount of amateur ones, except for quick, low-cost advertising of their true sites.
I read many online news quite regularly, and I never look for them on YouTube.
The only (un)professional YouTube channel I happen to watch quite regularly is Vevo, but I avoid it if I can as I deeply despise it for its medieval region locking policies, not to mention its bad habit to more often than not presume to "improve" the original sound of old music with a new equalization. Other music channels are less annoying, but they nevertheless tend to get lost in the ocean of contents uploaded by common users.
Last, but not least, YouTube search tools totally suck, they're not suitable at all to search anything more complicated than artist names and song titles.

I learned about what's happening through my favourite leftist youtube channel. All sides are affected. The mere mention of certain words would mean your videos are mostly likely going to be demonetized. For example, if you are disucssing why gay marriage should be legal without being offensive at all, bam, no ads will placed on your videos.

It won't stop established youtubers because those can and will look for alternative revenue sources. My fave political channel made a "patreon" account less than 24 hours ago and he's already receiving 10k dollars a month.

Independent in this case means free of corporate ties that influence their opinions. Might not be the accurate word to use, if you have an alternative description, go ahead and let me now.

It doesn't matter if the content is neutral or not. The mere discussion of any political, racial or sexual topic will lead to demonetization of your video.

So is twerk.

Funny how many of you has already turned this into "left vs right". FYI, I found out about this through my fave leftist channels. Get your head out of your asses and see the picture for once.

No use in moving on to other platforms. This is a systematic move from both, youtube and its advertising partners, to pull people's attention away from news outlets they don't approve of and get them to refocus on the traditional media sources that have lost a lot of its influencing powers in recent times.

Facebook & Google live and die on the support of those advertising partners, they have the upper hand here. Established youtubers are feeling the burn already but they'll survive thanks to the support of their hardcore fanbases, but you won't get bright new faces in the political commentary scene anymore unless those original content creators hit back smartly. 

Most republican leaning opinions are considered controversial these days especially since there's a growing number of republicans who are against political correctness. All it takes to be flagged a few times. SJWs. I'm sure they'll go wild with flagging people. It doesn't matter if there's any truth the accusations.

I agree with youtube on the spirit of it but not how it will enforced or how it will likely play out. I'm skeptical person. Most things like that are rarely done in a sensible way. Also, youtube has already admitted that they don't have enough people to go through the amount of new vids they get each day.  They'll likely resort to some kind of automated system that searches for keywords and reporting/flagging. Hell, I bet the reports will handled by a automated system.

Same here. Lots of youtube personality helped me burst the bubble I was living in. I can't believe how mislead I was on many issues.

Well, youtube invited a lot of people to make it their everyday's business to make and upload videos in return for money from ads. Youtube is not the same without the original created content from independent youtubers. It is a mutually beneficial relationship between youtubers and youtbe. So many of you act as if it's not.

People all over are being hit by this. This isnt the time for partisan bullshit. All creators from the left and the right need to get on the same page if they plan to remain relevant.

Hahah. Thank you. Pointing out hypocrisy never gets old

You mean the american system is finally responding to Russian meddling?

I'd say it was about time...

How are indie Devs independent if they depend on people buying their games?

Sigh.

Will you be happy to know that a lot of leftists aren't as crazy as the vocal minority? It's not our fault corporates are using left-leaning gender & PC politics to push their hidden agendas. Just like they used right-leaning religious politics to push the same hidden agendas in the past.

In fact, I think movements like "Justice Democrats" is one of the main instigators behind what's happening right now. American democracy is set up, by design, to serve specific types of people, it doesn't matter of those people lean to the left nor to the right.

The current form of American democracy, better described as oligarchy, is threatened, and this systematic offense on youtubers is just their way of eliminating the threat. Protecting the status quo from contagious online-based revolutions and movements is the main theme here.