A woman who opened fire at YouTube’s California headquarters before taking her own life “hated” the company and believed it was suppressing her content.

Nasim Aghdam, a video blogger and animal rights activist, wounded three people during the shooting at the organisation’s Silicon Valley campus on Tuesday afternoon.

The 39-year-old was “angry” at YouTube because it had stopped paying her for videos she posted on the platform, according to her father. Ismail Aghdam said he had earlier warned local police she might target the Google-owned organisation.

A 36-year-old man was in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman was in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman was in fair condition, a spokesman for San Francisco General Hospital said.

Why was Nasim Aghdam angry at YouTube?

YouTube had “stopped everything” and “she was angry” at the video-sharing platform, according to Aghdam’s father.

A website in her name decried YouTube’s policies.

“There is no free speech in real world and you will be suppressed for telling the truth that is not supported by the system,” it said. “Videos of targeted users are filtered and merely relegated, so that people can hardly see their videos!

YouTube HQ shooting suspect Nasim Aghdam appears in video testing her physical strength as a vegan

“There is no equal growth opportunity on YOUTUBE or any other video sharing site, your channel will grow if they want to!”

Citing one removed video, Aghdam wrote: “This video got age restricted after new close-minded youtube employees, got control of my farsi youtube channel last year 2016 & began filtering my videos to reduce views & suppress & discourage me from making videos!”

She also complained about the company’s changes to monetisation policies.

Does YouTube suppress some content creators?

Last year, Google changed its age restriction rules, meaning videos classed as being inappropriate for children were demonetised. This move angered many content creators who could no longer attach adverts to their videos.

When deciding what videos to restrict, YouTube considers its use of vulgar language, violence, nudity and sexual content, and portrayals of harmful or dangerous activities.

11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Show all 11 1 /11 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Play in the background One of the YouTube app’s most frustrating shortcomings is the inability to play music videos in the background or when you’re phone’s locked. There is a way around this, but only on iOS. Open the YouTube website in Safari, play a video and then press your iPhone’s home button. After that, launch the Control Centre by sliding up from the bottom of the screen and tap play. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Loop videos YouTube’s looping option on desktop is really useful, but nowhere near as easy to find as it should be. To loop a video, right-click it while it’s playing and select Loop. Even if you have Autoplay enabled, your video will replay itself as soon as it finishes. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Enable Dark Theme YouTube recently introduced a black-and-red Dark Theme on the desktop, which is much easier on your eyes than the regular version of the site. Enable it by clicking the account symbol, selecting Dark Theme and turning Activate Dark Theme on. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Simplify YouTube Another alternative YouTube user interface is available to access at youtube.com/tv. It’s a really simple, no-frills UI that’s incredibly easy to navigate. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Try out new features You can test upcoming and experimental features early by signing up to YouTube TestTube. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Read When you want to watch a YouTube video but don’t have your headphones and don’t want to disturb anyone around you, turn on Captions. They’re also really handy if you’re trying to watch a video in a foreign language. Transcriptions, meanwhile, break down exactly when certain things take place, so you can skip to the part you want to watch accurately and easily. In the More tab under the video title, launch the dropdown menu and select Transcript. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Use shortcuts You can lean back in your seat and control YouTube videos with your keyboard if you want to. J and L let you rewind and fast-forward 10 seconds, K is pause/play, M is mute/unmute and the 0-9 keys let you jump through various stages of the video, from 0 per cent to 90 per cent. On the app, you can fast forward or rewind 10 seconds by double-tapping the right or left side of a video. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Limit data use If you’re on a limited mobile data plan, there are easy ways to save yourself some money. In Settings on the YouTube app, hit General and enable Limit Mobile Data Usage and disable Autoplay. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Keep things private Unless you make them private, other people can see your Liked videos, your saved playlists and subscriptions. If you want to hide them, go to Settings and Privacy. You can also clear or pause your History. On either desktop or the mobile app, go to History and select Clear All Watch History or Pause Watch History. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Make sharing clearer Sometimes you want to share a video with a friend, but want them to watch a specific part, rather than the whole thing. Instead of sending the timestamp through as a separate message, make the video automatically play from the right place. Just pause it at the right moment, click the Share button, tick the Start At box and copy the URL. 11 YouTube features you didn't know existed Get nerdy Stats for Nerds shows you technical data for YouTube videos, including video format, audio format and bandwidth. On desktop, you can find the info simply by right-clicking the video player and selecting Stats for Nerds. On mobile, you have to enable it first in General Settings. Once that’s done, open a video, hit the menu button in the top-right corner and tap the Stats for Nerds option.

How does YouTube cut monetisation to people?

Earlier this year, YouTube announced it was making “tough but necessary” changes to its monetisation policies, sparking a major backlash from smaller YouTubers.

Channels now need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of view time over the previous 12 months to qualify for the company’s Partner Programme, which allows publishers to make money through advertising.

Previously, users needed just 10,000 total views to join the programme.

Why did YouTube change its monetisation and age restriction rules?

YouTube has suffered a series of damaging controversies in the last year, from terrorism videos plaguing the site to disturbing cartoons featuring famous characters being targeted at children.

The platform’s public relations nadir occurred in January, when Logan Paul, one of YouTube’s most famous users, shared footage of a man who had recently taken his own life.

In an attempt keep advertisers happy and ensure their content does not feature alongside controversial material, YouTube drastically cut the numbers of publishers who will be able to monetise their content.