Did YouTube just age-restricted your video? Here’s what you need to know about YouTube’s age restriction policy and what you can do if your video gets restricted.
YouTube’s age restriction policy
YouTube’s Community Guidelines defines what kind of content is and isn’t allowed on the platform. The guidelines have a set of rules that all videos must adhere to, failing which YouTube can restrict or remove them. While some videos might not violate the rules, they can still be inappropriate for viewers under the age of 18.
When someone opens an age-restricted video, a warning is shown before the video plays. Only users above the age of 18 can proceed to watch the video. To verify this, users are required to be signed in to YouTube. Videos that are age-restricted do not play on third-party websites.
What kinds of videos get age-restricted by the Community Guidelines?
Videos that have any of the following types of content can get age-restricted:
- Child safety: Videos featuring minors taking part in illegal activities like alcohol, drugs, weapons, etc.
- Dangerous activities: Videos featuring dangerous actions or stunts that children might imitate.
- Adult-themed content: Videos that might seem like family content but have underlying adult themes, such as adult cartoons.
- Harmful activities: Videos featuring self-mutilation, misuse of weapons, asphyxiation.
- Dangerous pranks: Fake kidnapping, fake murder/suicide, fake 911 calls, etc that people might recreate.
- Nudity or sexually suggestive content: Videos with lewd content intended to sexually arouse viewers.
- Vulgar language: Use of sexually explicit language or heavy profanity.
- Violent/graphic imagery: Videos showing graphic imagery like killing, slaughter, animal violence, etc. This can also apply to content from video gameplays.
How to appeal the age restriction on your video
On your “Videos” page, you can apply the “Age Restriction” filter to see if any video has been restricted. If you think that your video has been wrongfully age-restricted, you can always appeal this decision. Here’s how:
- In YouTube Studio, go to the “Videos” page.
- Find the video that got age-restricted and click on the “Appeals” link.
This sends an appeal request to the YouTube team. The video will then be reviewed and further action will be taken. You can only do this once per video.
YouTube intends to create a safe environment for all viewers. To accomplish this, its algorithms scan through videos to find any inappropriate content. While this ensures viewer safety, the algorithm can also be wrong at times and you might have to appeal the age restriction. Nevertheless, try to keep your content clean to avoid such issues.
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