tech2 News Staff

YouTube moderators have revealed that the video service internally relaxes the norms for celebrity content creators.

According to The Washington Post, moderators accused YouTube of lenient punishments for top video creators, including Logan Paul, Steven Crowder, and PewDiePie, who roll in more money through ads in the company.

Eleven current and past moderators believe that popular creators often get special treatment in the form of relaxed guidelines prohibiting demeaning speech, bullying and other forms of graphic content. However, YouTube denied these claims, saying it enforces rules equally.

YouTube spokesman Alex Joseph said that the company conducts a “systematic review of our policies to make sure we’re drawing the line in the right place. We apply these policies consistently, regardless of who a creator is."

(Also read: Badshah critises YouTube for snubbing him following Paagal's record-breaking feat: India is at par with the world)

"Creators who break YouTube’s rules face the consequence of having their channels or videos stripped of ads — or their content being removed entirely. But unlike at rivals like Facebook and Twitter, many YouTube moderators aren’t able to delete content themselves. Instead, they are limited to recommending whether a piece of content is safe to run ads, flagging it to higher-ups who make the ultimate decision," The Washington Post revealed.

(Also read: YouTube Kids is not safe for kids, is host to violent, disturbing content: Report)

Recently, YouTube also came under a bad light for not taking enough aggressive steps to make its streaming service safer for kids. Pew Research Center said its findings show videos aimed at or featuring children are among YouTube's most popular materials, attracting an outsized audience relative to the number uploaded. Lawmakers and parent groups have criticized YouTube in recent years, saying it has done less than it should to protect minors' privacy.

With inputs from ANI.