What Is Allowed on YouTube?
The YouTube video-sharing website offers people around the world a place to upload and watch videos of all kinds, from home movies and amateur films to video blogs. On the open range of video sharing, however, there are rules that YouTube community members must obey so as to avoid being flagged or permanently losing their accounts.
Other People Are Reading
-
Copyrighted Material
-
YouTube does not allow you to upload copyrighted material unless you own the copyright or have the express permission of the copyright owner. This includes video clips from a commercial film or television episode; music, including the use of a song as background to your video; and images. YouTube suggests that if you are not sure whether something you want to upload will violate someone else's copyright, your best bet is to start over and create something completely original.
Inappropriate Video
-
YouTube is a community-driven service viewable by a wide range of people. Community guidelines discourage uploading videos that exhibit activities such as drug abuse, animal abuse and bomb-making. Likewise, videos featuring people being physically hurt or humiliated, featuring threats or harassment and demonstrating hate speech against a specific race or group of people will be removed if they are flagged. Do not upload a video that depicts a readily identifiable person who did not give consent for recording, involves children in sexually suggestive situations or depicts violence. YouTube suggests that you make private any video you upload of your children or family so that only those with whom you share the link can view it.
-
Age Restriction
-
While YouTube is not tailored for pornography, sometimes a video might not violate YouTube's community guidelines but still be inappropriate for people under the age of 18. Should a YouTube user flag your video and a YouTube staffer review it and deem it to be within the guidelines but inappropriate for all ages, the staffer will mark your video as age restricted. People who wish to view the video will need to log in with their account and verify that they are over the age of 18.
Enforcement
-
YouTube staff members review videos all the time, especially when community members flag those videos for containing copyrighted or inappropriate content. If you find a video that you consider offensive or suspect violates copyright law, you can click the "Flag as inappropriate" button beneath the video and then specify a reason. General flagging categories include "Sexual Content," "Violent or Repulsive Content," "Hateful or Abusive Content," "Harmful Dangerous Acts," "Child Abuse," "Spam" and "Infringes My Rights." If your video is flagged and deemed inappropriate, a YouTube staffer will remove the video or apply an age restriction. With repeated violations of the community guidelines, you might find your account terminated and you may be unable to create a new account.
-
