YouTube has made changes to its content policy surrounding videos about COVID-19.
The revised guidelines state that some content can be monetised as long as it follows existing community guidelines.
The decision comes less than a month after YouTube concluded that content about the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic should be deemed "sensitive" and as such, wouldn't allow brands to run adverts alongside it. Now, the platform has backpedaled on that choice allowing creators to keep monetising videos.
In a blog post shared last month, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki explained the changes to the policy, as it is "becoming clear this issue is now an ongoing and important part of everyday conversation" and YouTube wants to make sure that "news organizations and creators can continue producing quality videos in a sustainable way".
WHO are you?
Youtube is also utilising the homepage in order to direct users to health organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"It remains our top priority to provide information to users in a responsible way," Wojcicki continued.
"Finding trustworthy content is especially critical as news is breaking, and we’ll continue to make sure YouTube delivers accurate information for our users."
In the coming weeks, we’ll remove COVID-19’s status as a “sensitive event” in our ad friendly guidelines – we’re prepping our policies & processes to expand monetization of this content to all creators in YPP.
— TeamYouTube #StayHome (@TeamYouTube) March 11, 2020
You’ll get a notif in Studio as soon as this applies to your Channel. https://t.co/31DgdTWRCS
