TheGunBlog.ca — YouTube.com deleted all the videos published in the past month by hickok45, one of the website’s top firearm channels, and may remove 95% of its remaining content because of a new anti-gun policy, the channel said.
‘Bad News’ Video
Hickok45, as the channel host is known, and his son, John, shared the information yesterday in a video titled “Bad News.”
The expanded anti-gun policy that took effect on June 18 prohibits content sponsored by firearm and firearm-accessory companies, the son said.
“So we are at the risk of losing everything and having to almost start from scratch,” John said.
Context
- TheGunBlog.ca was unable to find the new rules in YouTube’s anti-firearm policies or in Google Inc.’s ad policies. Google owns YouTube.
- Hickok45’s statistics page today shows 7.74 million subscribers, 2,764 videos, and 2.3 billion views since it was created in January 2007.
- Many of the world’s largest media and technology companies actively suppress and censor firearm users and businesses. They include: Amazon.com, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Shopify, and YouTube. (TheGunBlog.ca avoids these services as much as practicable.)
Hickok45’s Son John Comments
- Source: “Bad News,” hickok45 Channel on YouTube, 16 July 2024
- Transcribed by TheGunBlog.ca
Some of you may have seen that YouTube changed their policy on gun videos on June 18th, and we were not aware how much that was going to affect us until very recently, when we just talked with our Google rep, as Dad said.
You may notice that our videos posted since June 18th have been removed.
And the reason for that is because, essentially, the new policy that pertains to this video and what the problem is here is that all sponsorships from companies that are either firearms companies or companies that deal in firearms accessories are a complete violation of YouTube’s policies.
And any videos posted with sponsorships of that kind post-June 18th makes your channel subject to being completely terminated — strikes and termination, right. And any video before that is subject to the video itself being terminated.
So prior to June 18th the video itself was at risk. Post-June 18th, the entire channel is at risk.
And as you know we’ve had sponsorships like that almost the entire time time we have been doing this, so it pertains to probably 95% of our content.
So we are at the risk of losing everything and having to almost start from scratch.
—Source: “Bad News,” hickok45 on YouTube.com, 16 July 2024