Pokémon Go YouTube accounts reinstated after 'mistaken' child abuse ban

Google have reversed their decision to delete several popular YouTubers’ accounts after ‘mistakenly’ assuming they were posting child abuse, according to an article from the BBC.

YouTubers Mystic7, Trainer Tips, and Marksman were amongst several other YouTubers whose accounts were ‘mistakenly’ deleted from the video streaming service. Their accounts were flagged after they posted videos of themselves playing Pokémon Go.

The YouTubers were informed that their videos violated YouTube’s community guidelines as “YouTube prohibits uploading […] any type of activity that sexualises minors”.

Mystic7 took a more relaxed attitude toward the issue, even tweeting ‘@TeamYouTube yal into Pokémon or something??’

So my channel just went down for community guideline strikes for “sexual content”… @TeamYouTube yal into Pokémon or something??

— MYSTIC7 (@MYSTIC7) February 17, 2019

It’s believed that the problem is with the term ‘CP’, which is often used to refer to ‘combat points’ in Pokémon Go. Videos that had the term ‘CP’ in the title, such as Club Penguin related content, were also flagged as inappropriate.

Because ‘CP’ is also used as an acronym for ‘child pornography’ which falls under the category of child abuse, videos with the term in the title are automatically flagged by Google and YouTube’s systems.

According to the BBC article, Google declined to comment on whether this was the source of the issue. However, it’s the most likely explanation as to why people’s videos and channels, including those outside of the Pokémon community, are being struck with content violations.

Apparently all of the accounts that were removed in error have now been reinstated after social media backlash.

Source: BBC News and Mystic7 on Twitter.