YouTube can terminate user account’s access if it’s not ‘commercially viable’

Google's YouTube last week started sending out emails to users to notify about the upcoming changes to its terms of service. Set to come into effect on December 10, YouTube's new terms of service has already sparked controversy as it says it can terminate user account's access if it deems the account is "no longer commercially viable."

"YouTube may terminate your access, or your Google account's access to all or part of the Service if YouTube believes, in its sole discretion, that provision of the Service to you is no longer commercially viable," says YouTube on its new Terms of Service page.

YouTube says the changes are aimed at improving readability and transparency. The update brings better alignment between Terms and how the video-sharing platform works today, added YouTube in its email. The summary sent over the email has no mention of the controversial "commercially viable" clause.

Content creators, confusion

Content creators, as expected, aren't very happy with the changes. Moreover, the wordings of the terms of service have also left users confused as it covers all users not necessarily the content creators only, pointed out Mashable.

"Realistically YouTube won't be removing users or even creators because of this. My bet is that they've identified some commercial users essentially using YouTube for free storage, with heaps of private/unlisted videos, instead of putting them on a paid service such as Google Drive," a Reddit user tried to decipher YouTube's new policy.

"My take is that if someone posts content on their site that makes advertisers drop out they can be banned. Since they will cost the company more money in advert losses than they bring in from advert gains. Also known as, not commercially viable. The same thing that TV stations, radio stations, news papers etc. has been doing for eternity," wrote another user.

YouTube responds

YouTube said it's not changing how its platform works or how it collects data. "We're making some changes to our Terms of Service in order to make them easier to read and to ensure they're up to date. We're not changing the way our products work, how we collect or process data, or any of your settings," a YouTube spokesperson told Gadgets360.