YouTube has angered South Korean netizens after it demonetized a popular YouTube channel that was covering the coronavirus outbreak.
While China took the major hit with nearly 25,000 coronavirus infections, South Korea has also fallen prey to the infection with 15 confirmed cases.
At such a juncture, South Koreans naturally wanted to keep a close eye on the latest developments.
Clark TV, a popular South Korean YouTube channel with over 1.7 million subscribers, has, according to fans, so far done a commendable job on reporting legitimate news events and steering clear from unnecessary rumors and speculation.
But then, the channel was recently demonetized by YouTube as it was covering information related to the notorious epidemic.
It is worth noting that several South Korean netizens closely followed Clark TV for reporting about the infection.
In the recent past, Clark TV has released several videos from Wuhan (where the infectious virus initially emerged) such as the videos of local experts, and thoughts of the journalists who have entered the Chinese city after the lockdown.
What’s more, with a subscriber count north of 600,000, Clark TV is one amongst the very few sources to cover several incidents that generally go unreported by the traditional media.
For instance, Clark TV released several statements from doctors in Wuhan and also translated several local media reports out of China.
To offer a more nuanced perspective on the ongoing outbreak, Clark TV also showcased the popular comments on the articles released by Chinese news outlets, giving a necessary dose of reality.
Ever since the Coronavirus outbreak became a hot topic across the internet, YouTube adopted a more censorship-driven approach towards any content that discussed the issue.
Advertisers’ disinterest in paying for advertising against content related to coronavirus might be a plausible reason why YouTube demonetized Clark TV – but, if so, would highlight one of the fundamental issues with YouTube’s monetization policies.
Several YouTubers have been subjected to demonetization in the recent past.
For instance, several political commentary channels have also claimed that YouTube demonetized their channel without any reason given.
Legacy media outlets recently admitted at Davos that they were working hand-in-hand with YouTube in order to crack down on “non-authoritative” content.
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki recently committed to boosting authoritative news sources and suppressing the rest.
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