What Do I Do If My Video Was Flagged Inappropriately on YouTube?

YouTube allows content creators to share videos around the world, but does have community guidelines related to content. Viewers can flag or report videos with inappropriate or offensive content; however, sometimes the videos are inappropriately flagged. If you are a YouTuber and one of your videos was inappropriately flagged, you may be wondering what to do next. What should you do if your video was flagged inappropriately on YouTube? You can get information and assistance from YouTube creator support here, and below are steps to take if your video was wrongly flagged.

Steps to Take when Your YouTube Video is Inappropriately Flagged

Community Guidelines

First it's important to understand YouTube's community guidelines for content, and how viewers may feel those guidelines have not been followed. Some reasons a video may be flagged include:

1. Spam or misleading content: is your content misleading?
2. Abusive content or hate speech: does your content constitute hate speech against a protected group, or does it contain abusive content?
3. Sexual content: does your video have sexual content not appropriate for certain audiences?
4. Violence: is your content violent?
5. Dangerous content: does your content promote dangerous activity?
6. Child abuse: does your video contain or promote child abuse?
7. Terrorism: does your video promote or glorify terrorism?

Your Videos

When you upload your videos, if they do not fall into one of the categories listed above, but one is still flagged, or you feel the flag was in error, you can take these steps:

1. YouTube will notify you via the email address associated with your account that your video has been flagged. The person reporting the video will remain anonymous, but you will be notified of the potential community guideline violation. The notification will say you have a "strike" against your account for inappropriate content.
2. Open YouTube in your browser.
3. Login to your account.
4. Go to your YouTube studio.
5. Select "Channel violations card" in your YouTube studio dashboard.
6. Select "Appeal."
7. Fill out the form to appeal the strike against your account.
8. YouTube will review the video and determine if it does or does not violate community standards. Strikes due to inappropriate flags will be removed.
9. If YouTube determines your video may have been available to unintended audiences, you will be able to retain the content on your channel with proper age restrictions in place.

If your video was removed without YouTube issuing any strikes or penalties, you can appeal that decision as well:

1. Login to your YouTube Studio.
2. In the menu on the left-hand side, select "Content."
3. Select the video you want to appeal.
4. Under "Restrictions" select "Appeal."
5. Key in the nature of your appeal and submit your request.
6. Check your email to see if your video was removed for violating community standards and submit the appeal form in the email for inappropriate flagging.
7. If your appeal is granted, the video will be restored to your channel.

As a YouTuber, you want to reach as much of your audience with your content as possible. Inappropriate flagging can get videos removed and, in some cases, cause accounts to get deleted. For more information or support, contact YouTuber content creator services here.