India Tops YouTube Takedown List As Platform Removes 9 Million Videos In Late 2024

YouTube’s latest Community Guidelines Enforcement report has revealed startling figures on Friday that the platform has removed over 9 million videos for the October- December 2024 period from all over the world.

India, for the fourth consecutive year, has topped the list for the highest number of video takedowns globally, with nearly 3 million videos removed for violating YouTube’s community guidelines.

According to YouTube, 90 lakhs videos were taken down worldwide between October and December 2024, a significant volume driven by increasing concerns over child safety and harmful content.

The highest proportion of video removals, almost 54%, was attributed to violations related to child safety. This included content that endangered minors, such as videos promoting abuse, exploitation, or unsafe behavior.

Following closely behind child safety, the second most common reason for takedowns was the promotion of harmful or dangerous content, accounting for about 16% of removals.

This category includes videos encouraging violence, self-harm, or harmful challenges. Other reasons for video removal included harassment, cyberbullying, nudity, hate speech, and the spreading of misinformation, all of which are ongoing concerns in the digital age.

YouTube, in its report, stressed the importance of these proactive measures to ensure the platform remains a safe space for all users.

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India’s position as the country with the most video removals is notable, with a significant 32% increase in the number of takedowns compared to the previous quarter.

Nearly 3 million videos were removed from the platform in just three months. As of now, India has held the top spot for video takedowns since 2020, with the latest report showing no signs of a shift in this trend.

Brazil followed India with over 1 million videos removed in the same period. The United States retained its third-place position, with 900,000 videos taken down for similar guideline violations.

The report, however, emphasised that YouTube enforces its Community Guidelines consistently across the globe. This means that when content is flagged and removed, it is done so based on its adherence to guidelines, regardless of where it originates.

The platform’s approach to content moderation includes a combination of advanced artificial intelligence (AI)-powered systems and human review, allowing for both automatic and manual identification of guideline violations.

Also, 96.5% of the takedowns in the last quarter were flagged by AI without the need for human intervention. More than half of these videos were removed before they even received any views, showcasing the efficiency of YouTube’s detection systems.

While video takedowns have remained high, YouTube has reported a decrease in channel removals. In the last quarter of 2024, 4.8 million channels were removed for violating guidelines, in contrast to the 20 million channels taken down during the same period in 2023.

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The January- March quarter of 2024 saw the highest number of takedowns, with 15.8 million channels removed.

One area where YouTube’s enforcement has been particularly robust is in the comment sections of videos. Over the last quarter, more than 1.25 billion comments were removed due to violations, with the vast majority of these removals (81.7%) due to spam.

The company emphasised that 99.7% of these comments were automatically detected by its systems. While spam was the primary reason for comment removals, YouTube also targets comments related to harassment, hate speech, and misinformation, which can often spread quickly in public comment sections.

In its report, the platform acknowledged that it faces an ongoing challenge in keeping up with the rapidly evolving digital space, especially as users become more adept at circumventing moderation systems.

Through programs like the Priority Flagger program, where trusted flaggers can report potential violations, YouTube is relying on a combination of automated detection and user input to address guideline violations.

However, the platform also made clear that it is open to feedback and is committed to constantly improving its policies and tools to create a safer space for creators and viewers alike.