YouTube has responded to a creator who pointed out that the platform has terminated over 12 million channels in 2025 as the site continues to face backlash for its moderation policies.
YouTube started taking heat in December 2025 after it began using AI to moderate creators’ content. This resulted in a wave of backlash from creators who felt their channels had been unfairly punished by the AI.
For instance, one YouTuber speculated that YouTube’s AI had age-regulated his video after mistaking laughter in the audio track for “graphic content.” Another YouTuber claimed that the site’s AI banned her reaction video over “child safety” concerns, but took no action against the original video that she’d watched in her upload.
Despite vocal feedback from creators, YouTube’s CEO Neal Mohan confirmed that the company will continue to utilize AI to moderate content on its platform, saying, “AI will make our ability to detect and enforce on violative content better, more precise, able to cope with scale.”
YouTube responds to concerns after 12M channels terminated in 2025
A wave of creators have reported that their channels were punished or even outright terminated over the last few weeks, with many citing the possibility of YouTube’s AI being to blame.
One of these creators, animator Nani Josh, claimed that his channel, which boasted over 650,000 subscribers, was nuked by the site for “spam/scam” content in November… but he says that his channel didn’t have any content that fit such a description.
He called out YouTube in a scathing X post on December 11, noting that the site has terminated over 12 million channels from January – September 2025, which he speculated was the work of YouTube’s aberrant AI.
“Are we really supposed to believe 12 million creators all violated policies?” he asked in a post on X. “Did every one of them get a fair human review… or is YouTube’s AI just wiping out channels whenever it feels like it?”
Surprisingly, Team YouTube’s official X account took notice of Josh’s post and gave a response. In their reply, they claimed that these bans in this most recent quarter were a result of a “specific financial scam out of Southeast Asia,” and explained that a terminated channel doesn’t necessarily mean a creator has been fully banned.
“You’re right that over 12 million channels have been terminated this year, but it varies,” they wrote. “For example, 20.5M channels were terminated in Q4 2023 alone.
“Channels terminated doesn’t = Creators terminated. Sometimes, a scammy account can have hundreds of channels.”
You’re right that over 12 million channels have been terminated this year, but it varies. For example, 20.5M channels were terminated in Q4 2023 alone.
Channels terminated doesn’t = Creators terminated, sometimes a scammy account can have hundreds of channels.
This quarter, the…
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) December 11, 2025
That’s not all; Team YouTube also doubled down on Nani Josh’s channel ban, claiming it was “correctly terminated” by human reviewers on its policy team.
The site’s response has been met with mixed reactions from users, with many nonplussed by its explanation of events.
“We investigated ourselves and found no wrongdoing,” one joked dryly.
“You don’t even fix ‘mistakes’ unless a creator goes viral on X,” another argued.
This is the latest news to come from YouTube’s AI moderation after popular Pokemon YouTuber SplashPlate’s channel was reinstated on December 10, which he claimed was unfairly banned for content theft after a different creator stole and re-uploaded his own video.
