Solved Clean channels getting kicked and Freedom! claims all videos, anybody else got the problem?

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Onkel Mori

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Nov 18, 2016
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Hi Freedom! Family, I already wrote a ticket but I still want to share it with the forum to see if anybody else got this problem (I'll keep you up to date if there's any news) and later in this text I want to suggest something to the network.


It seems like even if your channel is clean you still can be kicked...
My channel and the channels of some friends I invited to Freedom! got kicked.
We got the mails two hours ago and it said:

"
The #FreedomFamily is constantly growing and evolving to better suit the needs of all our partners. In our continuous effort to ensure that all Freedom! partners are adhering to YouTube’s policies and guidelines, we’re writing to inform you that your channel Onkel Mori has been unlinked from our network due to some concerns that we have identified that may lead to your channel receiving future strikes for copyright, terms of service, or other violations. We understand that your channel may currently be in good standing however, after an in depth analysis, we have identified some key similarities between your channel and those being closed directly by YouTube for Copyright and/or Coummnunity Guideline violations.

Once you have reviewed YouTube’s policies on Copyright and Community Guidelines linked above, and believe that your channel is free of these types of issues and ready to rejoin our network, we encourage you to contact our support team directly here and request to have your channel re-reviewed. Please know that all re-review requests will be handled in the order that they are received and may take some time. We appreciate your patience.

Sincerely,

MCN Freedom! Tech. Inc."

Long terms short: They said there's something on my channel which can cause strikes or a channel suspension.
And tbh I don't get it...
According to George Vanous and his KYC videos, my channel should be safe. It's only Gameplay with commentary and Let's Play videos (except some vids where I did announce that I livestream on Twitch later that day and whoever wants can come over and watch me play). George says that's okay!

This can only be a mistake and it wouldn't be the first time someone gets kicked for no reason (if you read some comments under some videos on the Freedom! channel, it happened several times. George controlled the channels, saw there was a mistake, reinvited them and then he whitelisted them so it didn't happen again).

Here's my suggestion: I think if the network finds any problems on a channel, it's easier for everyone if Freedom! would tell the creator more about the problem.
If the mail only says "We did an in depth analysis and identified similarities to channels that got closed for violating Copyright and/or Community Guideline. Review the policies" doesn't help anybody.

They should at least say which videos are the problem so it's easier to fix it. I can't fix the problem when I don't understand what exactly the problem is.

I know many things happen automatically but still this would make it easier for us.


One last thing also happened. Freedom! claimed ALL of my videos (except some Nintendo content ID claims)!
And to be honest I have a big problem with that. Freedom! has no rights on my content.

Does anybody else have the problem? Why does Freedom! even claim the videos?

Even if I'd have to leave Freedom! (which I don't want! I like being a part of the family! <3 ), I could still make some money with the YPP alone, without Freedom!, but if they now claim all of my videos, I can't make any money out of it.

This could potentially kill my channel!

Everything I earned with revenue always got reinvested back in the channel.
Now let's say my console or my Pc dies, it will be very hard for me to buy a new one.
Yes, I have a job and of course I could save money from time to time. But I want to be able to still feed my family without any problems, so it could take a long time saving money for a new Pc.

And Patreon or asking for donations isn't an option for me, I'd feel like a beggar (I have a donations button on twitch but I always told my viewers they can, but they don't have to donate. It's all about fun and they can still have fun without donating).

I am praying this is just a mistake...
 

LW

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It seems like even if your channel is clean you still can be kicked...
My channel and the channels of some friends I invited to Freedom! got kicked.
Apparently a ton of people were kicked overnight for potentially receiving abuse events.

Firstly, you can sadly no longer "see" if your channel is in good standing. What defines good standing is no longer "channel has no strikes and few claims" but instead "channel will stay safe in the future". Freedom! has to unlink any channels that might lead to issues in the future. They have to review every channel and if reviewers find potential problems with it they have to take action or YouTube shuts down the MCN [which isn't even a new rule]. Now reviewers are humans and they do make mistakes. You can contact support to ask for a re-review of your channel. I'd also prefer if they had to supply a reason for each channel they unlink and if they'd talk to channel owners before nuking them from the MCN but that's more or less just a dream...

The claims are also a known issue with YouTube unlinking systems, contact support and the Content ID team will retract them as soon as possible.
 
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Onkel Mori

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Nov 18, 2016
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Thank you.

My channel got re-reviewed really quick by the way. A few hours after I contacted the support, supporter Jenny sent me a mail which said: "We are pleased to tell you that after re-reviewing the channel we have not found any videos that does not comply to YouTube policies and guidelines."

So it's not as bad as it looked first. I apologize for panicking.

She also said: "Please be advised that we have a 60-90+ review and invitation processing time at the moment."
60-90+ what? Hours? Days?

I can live with that as long as I can be a Freedom! member once again. But shouldn't it be quicker? I mean... She said the channel got re-reviewed and it's okay. Shouldn't Freedom! be able to send me the invite then with a few mouse clicks?

Anyway... I can wait if I have to.
 
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LW

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She also said: "Please be advised that we have a 60-90+ review and invitation processing time at the moment."
That's... Days. They now look at your channel over a longer period of time to find potential issues. You might be able to ask for that to be skipped as you've been a long-term partner, what worse could happen than a 'no'. ;)
 
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iGoDZoFLuiGii

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I got this email and I dont think its Fair on content creators out there, saying that keeping a clean channel and free from copyright strikes isnt needed no more, and saying its all about the future of the channel and what sort of mark it can leave whether its good or bad.

Im sorry but who do Freedom think they are, telling us what our channel will be like in the future before we even make it for ourselves. Our channels are all different from one another, you cant put that into a Algorithm and decided who goes and stays.

For example lets say freedom decideds to keep LW001 on as a partner, thinking he may have good content for the possible future, but then that day arrives and LW001 decided to promote cat killing videos or something. What then Freedom, Exactly a system like this is stupid even Donald Trump is smarter then that.

Least have the guts to defend your partners when this policy goes out, defend us and let us know its not your fault and you support us and help us get into this new environment, but instead you bend the knee and care only about yourselves in the end.
 
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LW

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I got this email and I dont think its Fair on content creators out there, saying that keeping a clean channel and free from copyright strikes isnt needed no more, and saying its all about the future of the channel and what sort of mark it can leave whether its good or bad.

Im sorry but who do Freedom think they are, telling us what our channel will be like in the future before we even make it for ourselves. Our channels are all different from one another, you cant put that into a Algorithm and decided who goes and stays.

For example lets say freedom decideds to keep LW001 on as a partner, thinking he may have good content for the possible future, but then that day arrives and LW001 decided to promote cat killing videos or something. What then Freedom, Exactly a system like this is stupid even Donald Trump is smarter then that.

Least have the guts to defend your partners when this policy goes out, defend us and let us know its not your fault and you support us and help us get into this new environment, but instead you bend the knee and care only about yourselves in the end.
This isn't a personal thing. It's something every MCN has to do. This isn't necessarily about content (any channel can turn into animal cruelty from one day to the other just through one video, you can't expect anyone to foresee that) but about being able to oversee channels.

If LW002 [different example name because I'm not a narcissist] created great content and was a partner but then ended up getting a strike for whatever that strike hurts Freedom! more than LW002. LW002 won't have access to streaming and some more restrictions on the channel but who cares. On Freedom!'s end that's 1/50 of the way to YouTube planting a block on the MCN's ability to invite more channels. They can go out and defend all partners but some of them are just bad actors.

Freedom! has hired a ton of reviewers to seek out channels which may get problems in the future. Those reviewers are humans and make mistakes but they ultimately have to do their job properly to stop the entire network collapsing.

Conclusion: They have no grudges towards your channel and don't want to punch your face while unlinking you but just do this to get rid of potential spam in the network.

If you believe you've been falsely unlinked you can contact support and they will re-review your channel.
 
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Onkel Mori

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Freedom! Member
Nov 18, 2016
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I got this email and I dont think its Fair on content creators out there, saying that keeping a clean channel and free from copyright strikes isnt needed no more, and saying its all about the future of the channel and what sort of mark it can leave whether its good or bad.

Im sorry but who do Freedom think they are, telling us what our channel will be like in the future before we even make it for ourselves. Our channels are all different from one another, you cant put that into a Algorithm and decided who goes and stays.

For example lets say freedom decideds to keep LW001 on as a partner, thinking he may have good content for the possible future, but then that day arrives and LW001 decided to promote cat killing videos or something. What then Freedom, Exactly a system like this is stupid even Donald Trump is smarter then that.

Least have the guts to defend your partners when this policy goes out, defend us and let us know its not your fault and you support us and help us get into this new environment, but instead you bend the knee and care only about yourselves in the end.

At least Freedom! gives us the opportunity to get back in the Freedom! family.
Other networks like TGN or Socialblade didn't. Socialblade even lied to their partners or better said didn't tell the whole truth. They said after the unlinking of all the partners, YouTube would force networks to slim down their networks massively and only keep their top partners.

We know that's not true.
Short after, Freedom! released a statement on Twitter which cleared things up.
It didn't sound that devastating like what Socialblade said. If partners have potentially questionable content, they get unlinked. What Socialblade didn't say was that partners can be re-reviewed when they get rid of the content.
The statement also said that ALL MCN's must now have complete oversight of ALL channels in their networks and must build personal relationships with each of them.
Now what Socialblade said sounds like "This is too much work for us, we don't have enough workers to cover the extra work, so we release small partners and focus only on our bigger partners".
It would have been understandable, at least for me. They could have told their partners the truth.

Freedom! is the only network I know which told the truth about the situation and also told us "If you get rid of the content that could become a problem, then you can get back."
Freedom! still welcomes new partners when they meet the 4k 1k rule and their channel is clean.


EDIT:
Almost forgot to answer to LW001...

That's... Days. They now look at your channel over a longer period of time to find potential issues. You might be able to ask for that to be skipped as you've been a long-term partner, what worse could happen than a 'no'. ;)


Unfortunately this was the answer: "We wish we can invite you immediately but due to YouTube's stricter implementation of their policies and guidelines we would need to observe channels for about 60-90+ days."

I would understand it with the stricter implementation of their guidelines and that Freedom! needs to observe my flatmate and me or other partners that got kicked with a clean channel, if we would have made the mistakes.

But I didn't make ANY mistake! An automatic system or a Freedom! supporter unlinked me, but a few hours after that I got the message my channel is clean.
I basically get punished for a mistake that wasn't mine. And the more I think about that, the less I understand it.
If I really had questionable content, I'd understand Freedom! has to observe me for a while. But it was a mistake of Freedom!, so there shouldn't be a reason to observe me to be honest...[DOUBLEPOST=1529600954][/DOUBLEPOST]Sorry for double posting, but I have to get something off my chest.

I contacted the YouTube support because I wanted to know more about these policies and guidelines that Jenny told me about (Freedom has to observe partners that got unlinked before they re-invite them).
I recieved an answer some hours ago and they said that this is a thing between Freedom! and me.
First I get unlinked for no reason. Then they say " after re-reviewing the channel we have not found any videos that does not comply to YouTube policies and guidelines." which is proof that I did nothing wrong and the unlinking is a mistake. Next they say "You have to wait some months before we re-invite you. We need to be sure, YouTube is forcing us to do that." and now as I contacted YouTube support because I wanted to know more about the pressure on MCNs, YouTube says "This is between your MCN and you".
So much for "YouTube is forcing us to do that."...


And then there's something about the revenue share that bugs me.
First I joined Freedom! 2016 with my second channel which is inactive now (to check out if the MCN is good). Last year I also joined Freedom! with my main channel, which came from "Curse - Union for Gamers". I kindly asked "I was in Curse and had a 90/10 share. Is there anything you can do about it? If you can't, that's not a problem. Money never was my main motivation and I try to work my way up then."

Freedom raised my revenue share to 90/10 then. My channel didn't perform well back then so I asked if it is possible for the revenue share to drop back to 60 if a channel doesn't perform good. I was told the revenue share can only be raised, not lowered, no matter how ****** the channel performs (and to be honest it still doesn't perform that good, but I get a little boost thanks to Fortnite right now ;) ).

I also asked the support what will happen to my revenue share when I get re-invited and I was told they can't promise anything and they do have a standard process that upon re-joining they evaluate the overall performance of the channel and advised the revenue share that we can provide.
Which means it could be my share drops.


To be honest this whole thing is starting to piss me off.

Yes, I said I don't have a problem with waiting. But the longer I thought about it, the more it bugged me. I don't understand why I get punished for someone else's fault... I shouldn't have to wait several months since it wasn't my fault and I shouldn't have to be re-checked several times in those months to see if I don't upload content with strike potential because like I said, it wasn't my fault, it was the fault of Freedom!... I never did anything wrong on the channel which was approved by Freedom!. If I don't cause trouble, then I shouldn't be punished.

And yes, I also said that money never was and never will be the main reason for me to create content (everything gets reinvested in my channel. I just have to hope nothing I need for creating content breaks, if it's less money than before or if I have to wait longer...).
But if my revenue share really gets lowered or/and I get treated like a brandnew partner (which I am not, I just was unlinked by a mistake as you know), I have a big problem with that.
They told me it can't get lowered...

I feel screwed... I hate when people lie to me or don't tell the whole truth.
"YouTube is forcing us to do that", yeah, that's why YouTube told me "This is between your MCN and you".
And regarding the revenue share, I am starting to believe the revenue share thing was like "Hmm... His channel performance is far from good. He has 90/10 share but he doesn't deserve such a revenue share if the channel doesn't perform good. We said revenue share can not get lowered, it only gets raised... Let's unlink him and let him come back later, so we can give him a lower share"...
But to be honest, I don't want to believe this.

Whatever, like I said, this is starting to piss me off and it stresses me a lot the more I think about.
Being double-punished for someone elses fault is not okay.

Especially the waiting thing...

I know you can't compare YouTube to the "real" working world (Don't get me wrong, I don't say YouTube isn't a real work. I know it can be pretty hard and stressing... What I mean is that things on YouTube run different than at Wal Mart for example), but let's say someone works in a store and then he gets fired because his boss says "He stole money from our cash register", then some days later they find out he never did anything wrong and it was his workmate that stole the money. The Boss will apologize and will offer the guy that got fired by mistake, that he can have his old job back. He won't say "You can come back but we have to observe you for some months to see you really aren't a criminal. And if you come back, you have to start from the bottom and work for less money"


I am thinking about letting it go... No arguing about the re-invite and share anymore.
Just me in the YPP doing what I love, no more trouble with a MCN. The only thing I really would need here is Epidemic. A license should cost around 10 bucks and I think it's affordable even for a small channel like me. I wouldn't even need a MCN.

But that's nothing against the people at Freedom!.
I liked being a part of Freedom! and you all were always so kind to me.

One way or the other, I will still continue doing what I love and that's creating content.
 
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Hyderpony

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I don't think is fair tho to unlink someone channel just because some key similarities between your channel and those being closed directly by YouTube for Copyright and/or Coummnunity Guideline violations. It like saying we have to unlink your My Little Pony channel because other channels with My Little Pony channel got unlinked. Every channel is different and should be done a case by bases.
 
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Onkel Mori

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Thanks, it's more than unfair.
The funny thing is they say it's because YouTube is forcing them to make people wait a few months before they get re-invited, then the YouTube support tells me "This is between your MCN and you...".

I posted under several videos because I was hoping George Vanous sees it and does the same thing he did for others, re-inviting and whitelisting when he sees the channel is clean.
Weren't you one of the guys that got re-invited and whitelisted by George?
(When I told the support "George personally re-invited and whitelisted people after he saw their channels are clean, why do I have to wait for months?" I didn't even get an answer on that question...).

After I confronted the support with what YouTube told me, nobody from Freedom replied to my comments on the videos anymore. And this thread here was basically dead before you answered.
Support didn't answer me for days either...

And then a few days ago I finally got an answer...

Now, after I confronted them with what YouTube told me, now the support found several issues on my channel. Interesting... Didn't they tell me in their first answer they didn't find any issues? And after I said "you lied to me!", they find things that YouTube could strike.

For example, misleading thumbnails which I NEVER did!...
They also told me copying things from the video title in the description or in the tags could be seen as spam from YouTube and can also cause a strike. LOL!!!
Did you see the "get more views!" video that Freedom promotes on the forum starting page?
One of the tips in the video says to copy things from the title in tags a.s.o. ...

They also said something about copyright problems, I think they mean content id claims... This could become strikeworthy?

Uhm... I only have content id claims from a few Nintendo vids. They only claim the money for the videos, they don't strike you (as long as you don't upload game videos before their initial release).


The funniest thing was "Piracy related content, showing use of game roms being emulated"...
First, dumping your own original game and emulate it is not piracy. Second, there are so much re-releases from Sega Genesis or SNES. The new Genesis collection for Ps4, Xbox One and Pc can also use some filters, it's basically an emulator.
So what about people who play such a classic collection?

There are also some devices out there like "Retrode". You put your SNES or Genesis cartridge in it, plug in the usb cable in your Pc and you can play your own original.
They don't know if someone is playing his own original...

"Well, it COULD be piracy, so it COULD become a problem..."
Then they have to unlink every gaming YouTuber from Freedom.

I mean... Nowadays most consoles can be modded the way they play games from a usb drive, sd or micro sd card (it's even possible on the Nintendo Switch now!) without the original game disk inserted.
This COULD also be piracy.
Or people who show gameplay from a Pc game. Nobody knows if they play a cracked version or play an online game on a cracked server. They also COULD show something related to piracy.

Strictly speaking, almost EVERYTHING could be something related to piracy when it comes to gaming... COULD!!!

So if you get punished for something that COULD happen, then maybe I'll be in jail soon. I have some knifes at home. Even if I only butter or cut my bread, it COULD be that I kill someone with a knife.

Their point of view is a joke to me.

If YouTube wants, they could make everything strikeworthy.

Here in germany even some reaction videos got claimed, deleted or striked.

Strictly speaking almost everything could become a problem...


Especially on the emulation related things, as a Game of Thrones fan my first thought about their last mail was: "... and they say Jon Snow knows nothing..."
 
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LW

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Thanks, it's more than unfair.
The funny thing is they say it's because YouTube is forcing them to make people wait a few months before they get re-invited, then the YouTube support tells me "This is between your MCN and you...".
YouTube isn't specifically forcing them to wait for this long to invite channels, it's just a new policy Freedom! implemented.
After I confronted the support with what YouTube told me, nobody from Freedom replied to my comments on the videos anymore. And this thread here was basically dead before you answered.
Support didn't answer me for days either...
Comments on videos aren't monitored all the time, they are more of a lucky shot to try getting replies than anything. This thread having died is partially my fault, sadly as there were no replies your other posts were merged as double-posts by the Forum without bumping the thread for me to notice it. Sorry about that.

As to the rest of the issues you've mentioned please keep talking to support through your existing ticket about them, this is something we can't really judge as Forum people as we don't have the exact policies Freedom! reviews channels based on and can't really change much there.
 
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