YouTube has issued an apology and reinstated a creator’s channel after they were banned for a comment made on an alternate account back when they were just 13-years-old.
Google-owned YouTube has come under plenty of heat lately after numerous YouTubers were hit with bans seemingly out of nowhere, resulting in a lack of income and thousands of videos lost.
One such creator, Norse797, made waves across social media after their channel, with over 100K subscribers and 25 million views vanished.
Why? According to Norse, he was banned for “spam and deceptive practices.” However, it wasn’t due to anything that happened recently.
“YouTube terminated my 108K channel over a comment I made at 13 years old,” he explained.
“After months of talking with support and multiple appeals, they finally revealed the real reason: ‘ban evasion.’ Their AI moderation linked my channel to an old account I created at 13, a dead account with no uploads, only a few comments.”
The Norwegian creator rallied against YouTube in numerous posts on X, accusing the video site of negating his hard work building their channel and then subsequently deleting the reason for the ban.
Norse added that the email he used for the account was hacked years ago after receiving a fake sponsorship email. “I reported the hack, yet YouTube claimed they deleted the data and refused to investigate, closing the case without review,” he noted.
“That single link destroyed everything: years of work, over 100,000 subscribers, and my community, gone.”
After Norse’s story blew up on social media, YouTube stepped in and responded to the backlash.
“We’re so sorry for the delay and for the frustration this whole process caused,” the video site said.
“Our team has thoroughly reviewed your channel and confirmed it did not violate our Community Guidelines. It has now been fully reinstated. This was a mistake on our end, and we’re truly sorry.”
The YouTuber and his community were overjoyed by the news.
“Thank you to everyone who liked, reposted, and supported me. I’m SO grateful my case is fixed!” he exclaimed.
However, despite Norse’s problem being solved, the YouTuber still pointed out that others hadn’t been so lucky and vowed to help them get their accounts reinstated.
“Thousands of creators are still unfairly banned and I’ll keep fighting for you too!”
YouTube’s AI account moderation hasn’t just caused trouble for creators, but for viewers, as well.
Earlier in 2025, the site brought its age estimation system to the United States. If the AI believes that users are under 18, they need to show Google ID – something security experts panned as “creepy” overreach by YouTube.
Google’s focus on AI extends beyond just content moderation and creation, though. The company is currently testing a new custom home page feature that lets users finally change what types of videos show up on their home feeds through AI prompts.
