The company also noted that it's nearly finished with the rollout of a feature that gives channel operators a chance to review potentially toxic comments before they go public. It was recently turned on by default for larger channels, and should reach most channels by the end of 2019.

The tougher policy appears targeted directly at people like right-wing commentator Stephen Crowder, who came under fire for videos that insulted Vox host Carlos Maza based on his homosexuality and Latino background, not to mention led to sustained harassment by Crowder's fans. At the time, YouTube claimed that Crowder wasn't violating policies, in part because he hadn't explicitly told viewers to harass Maza. YouTube later demonetized his channel, but this would make such responses more common and open the possibility of bans for this kind of activity.

This new approach could antagonize right-wingers that have already accused YouTube of an anti-conservative bias. At the same time, though, many have blasted YouTube for allowing thinly-veiled hate speech and harassment campaigns to persist on technicalities no matter what their political affiliations might be. So long as it's consistently enforced, this new stance could theoretically help YouTube continue its crackdown on hate and prevent people from using videos as weapons.