YouTube has removed one video and stopped monetizing YouTube influencer Cynthia G’s channel after finding that the account repeatedly violated YouTube policies by posting videos over the past two years that accumulated tens of thousands of views by calling for Black abortions.
The decision came after an Ars reader asked Ars to investigate why these videos do not violate YouTube’s community guidelines.
The video that YouTube removed was titled “If Aborting Black Males Isn’t The Solution, What Is?” It was posted in November 2021 and, as of last week, still qualified for ad monetization. In the video, Cynthia G said that “a lot of people” considered the “solution” to be “something horrible that is genocidal” and provided a racist justification, saying that the only way to counter Black male violence is to “eliminate” Black men.
YouTube did not remove other videos flagged by Ars on the same topic. One video—titled “Do Black Women Benefit From Birthing Black Males?”—directs hate at Black male children, “because they turn into Black male adults, which equals the enemy of Black women” and advocates for Black women to abort male fetuses, because “if we don’t give birth to them, then they don’t exist.” Another video—titled “Should We Continue To Give Birth To Them?”—similarly suggests the best path to “eliminate” Black men is for Black women to “eliminate them through your womb.”
According to YouTube, the video that was removed violated the platform’s hate speech policy, which prohibits content that promotes violence or hatred against individuals based on protected attributes, including claims that groups or individuals are mentally inferior based on attributes such as race.
YouTube did not clarify why the videos that remained online do not violate community guidelines, instead providing Ars with a statement: “We issued a strike to the channel Cynthia G for violating our hate speech policy, and suspended monetization on this channel following repeated violations of our YouTube Partner Program policies.“
Because the channel was issued a strike, it has been prevented from uploading videos for one week. YouTube’s spokesperson said that any attempt to upload videos to alternate channels could result in termination of Cynthia G’s channel.
YouTube specifically prohibits ads from running alongside content that discriminates, disparages, or seeks to humiliate an individual or group of people, including on the basis of race.
Cynthia G’s YouTube channel has more than 130,000 subscribers and has generated nearly 65 million views since it was created in 2016. The creator of the account did not respond to Ars’ request to comment. The account’s bio says the channel “is all about empowering Black women” and liberating “Black women’s mind from the toxic grasp of Black Male Worship.” Recent videos focus on celebrity scandals. That profile links to an alternate channel that appears inactive.
According to YouTube, a suspension from the YouTube Partner Program following repeated violations of either community guidelines or advertiser-friendly guidelines means that Cynthia G’s channel is no longer eligible for monetization on the platform. The creator of the account will have 30 days to appeal the decision or reapply to the Partner Program after addressing issues raised on the account.
It seems likely that Cynthia G will have to remove the remaining videos that were demonetized if the channel plans to reapply for the Partner Program. YouTube’s spokesperson told Ars that YouTube sets a higher bar for what can make money on YouTube, meaning that many videos that are allowed on YouTube are not eligible to monetize.
The videos that YouTube demonetized and removed this week were seemingly monetized for more than a year on the platform. Last year, Rolling Stone reported dozens of videos that were “flagrant” policy violations being monetized on the platform, with one research firm accusing YouTube of “cashing in on misogyny, racism, and targeted harassment.” YouTube’s spokesperson told Ars that YouTube enforces policies rigorously but is not always perfect, which is why YouTube continually works to improve the systems it has in place to flag violating content.
