On YouTube’s short-video feature “Shorts,” there have been a growing number of reports since the start of 2026 of accounts being suspended or demonetized, causing confusion among channel operators.
[Image] Details of the update targeting mass-produced content
According to cases in Japan and abroad, the recent enforcement actions mainly involve channels that are deemed to be posting “mass-produced content or highly repetitive content,” with many reports of monetization being suspended. Channel operators who received demonetization notices posted on X that “a ban wave has started,” drawing widespread attention.
Regarding “mass-produced content,” examples include reassembling existing content using generative AI or voice synthesis and publishing it in large quantities. In fact, many of the removed accounts fall into non-personalized, non-live-action formats such as “overseas reactions,” “2ch summaries,” “Yukkuri explanations,” and “lessons of XX.”
Monetization policy now excludes “mass-produced content”
YouTube has previously classified such content as “repetitive content” in some cases, and at times excluded it from the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), which enables monetization.
However, in July 2025, YouTube revised its guidelines. It updated the policy on “repetitive content” to explicitly include “mass-produced content” and changed the policy name from “repetitive content” to “mass-produced content.”
Observers point out that the background to these policy changes and the recent wave of enforcement is the rapid advancement of AI tools, which now make it possible to produce large volumes of videos in a very short time. Because many of these videos are created using templates, YouTube’s systems are more likely to classify and detect them as low-quality mass production.
When revising the policy, YouTube explained that its system is designed so that creators who provide original and authentic content can earn revenue, and that such mass-produced content had already been excluded from monetization in the past. The platform also signaled that it would place greater emphasis on added value going forward.
That said, content created with generative AI is not automatically excluded from monetization. The key factor will be how much creativity and originality the creator is able to demonstrate.
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