Political commentator and host of “The Rubin Report” Dave Rubin has claimed that YouTube demonetized a segment of his video interview with famed economist Thomas Sowell. The segment reportedly targeted is the first part of the full interview, titled “Thomas Sowell on Facts and Free Speech.”
Rubin is the host of The Rubin Report, an online talk show that covers numerous topics including social issues and politics. Rubin’s videos have also featured discussions with public figures including Philip DeFranco, Bob Saget, Jack Conte, John Kasich, Laci Green, Larry King, Roseanne Barr, Austin Petersen, and Adam Carolla.
Through a series of tweets, Rubin explained that the video was initially monetized before becoming demonetized.
Just finish fun event at @dartmouth and my guys showed me that Part 1 with Thomas Sowell was demonetized. It had been monetized which means a human went back in and hit it. What the actual fuck @TeamYouTube? Or Does the algorithm pass things and then get them if they succeed? pic.twitter.com/C6mCf8MdtK
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) April 20, 2018
Hey @TeamYouTube, does your diversity memo include black conservatives or is that considered offensive? I know the truth hurts, but c’mon now… https://t.co/XGuCZWfIPx
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) April 20, 2018
I can only deduce that YouTube is anti black and anti gay. Where is Al Sharpton and GLAAD when you need them?! https://t.co/XGuCZWfIPx
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) April 20, 2018
Would love a public response on this @TeamYouTube. The video was monetized already so what happened? Did manual review get it after it passed the algorithm? What is not suitable for advertisers about this conversation? https://t.co/XGuCZWfIPx
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) April 20, 2018
YouTube eventually confirmed that “the automated system recently applied a yellow icon,” and stated that “a video’s classification may change after it’s published as our systems continue to analyze more info from the video.” YouTube added that “this video has yet to be manually reviewed, so please request one!”
Rubin replied that he had already requested a manual review and questioned how the content of the video would warrant demonetization, as well as Youtube’s protocols for reviewing video.
Yes, the video made it through the system and then got demonetized afterwards. What info in this video could trigger demonetization? (And as you can see in the screen shot we already requested manual review.) https://t.co/5ZIoSeXBnH
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) April 20, 2018
Can you explain what that means…a video makes it through the system and then gets looked at again by the system? What’s the difference the second time around? Also once you demonetize do we lose the money we already earned?
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) April 20, 2018
Yes a video gets looked at multiple times by the system, it's looking at the same things but checking if the video has changed (description, etc) or if context around the video has changed. Also, you don't lose money that you've already earned. Let us know if you have other q's!
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) April 20, 2018
We didn’t changed anything (title, description, etc.) so why the sudden demonetization? Also, what does “context around the video” mean? https://t.co/BB0bfwcBQH
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) April 20, 2018
This is not the first incident in which Rubin has claimed that his videos were demonetized. As early as May 2017, Rubin discussed the issue and claimed that demonetization of his videos led to a decrease in revenue of 60 percent.
In January, Rubin stated that YouTube had demonetized an interview with Ben Shapiro, the Editor-in-Chief of Daily Wire. Later in the month, Rubin made another claim regarding demonetization of a video that criticized socialism.
In February, he again publicly called out YouTube for demonetizing a video interview with Shapiro and Jordan Peterson while showing ads on the video in question. In that incident, The Daily Caller reported that when it had asked for an explanation from YouTube, a spokesperson “blamed the original demonetization on the platform’s algorithms.”
Hey @TeamYouTube, you demonetzied this video, but folks are still seeing ads. Who will see that revenue? Live analytics show over 450K views. Do you just keep all that rev or refund it to advertisers? Do you have any humans at your company I can speak to? https://t.co/BgRkMH8653
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) February 1, 2018
In March, Ben Swann published a Reality Check that explored the topic of tech giants censoring certain content, noting that targets are often content creators that are “not part of the establishment structure.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4503ZDmzfoM