YouTube Opens 'Second Chance' Program To Creators Banned For Misinformation

YouTube has launched a 'second chance' program allowing some creators previously banned for COVID-19 or election misinformation to apply for new channels, as long as their violations were tied to policies that have since been deprecated. Bans for copyright or severe misconduct still remain permanent. The Verge reports: Under political pressure, the company had said last month that it was going to set up this pilot program for 'a subset of creators' and 'channels terminated for policies that have been deprecated.' The new pilot program kicks off today and will roll out to 'eligible creators' over the 'next several weeks,' YouTube says. 'We'll consider several factors when evaluating requests for new channels, like whether the creator committed particularly severe or persistent violations of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service, or whether the creator's on- or off-platform activity harmed or may continue to harm the YouTube community.'

The pilot won't be available if you were banned for copyright infringement or for violating YouTube's Creator Responsibility policies, the company says. If you deleted your YouTube channel or Google account, you won't be able to request a new channel 'at this time.' And YouTube notes that if your channel has been banned, you won't be eligible to apply for a new one until one year after it was terminated. 'We know many terminated creators deserve a second chance -- YouTube has evolved and changed over the past 20 years, and we've had our share of second chances to get things right with our community too,' YouTube says. 'Our goal is to roll this out to creators who are eligible to apply over the coming months, and we appreciate the patience as we ramp up, carefully review requests, and learn as we go.'

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