YouTube to soon strengthen enforcement of gambling content

From mid-November, YouTube has announced it is ‘strengthening’ the enforcement of its community guidelines around online gambling and graphic violence in gaming.

The video-focused platform has naturally attracted masses of video gamers and gamblers, as both content creators and viewers.

Now, though, the company says “we’re making these updates to keep pace with new trends, like gambling with digital goods, and to more closely align our guidelines for mature content with industry standards.”

While the current policy prohibits content that directs viewers to online gambling sites or applications that are not certified by Google, this is now being expanded upon. The enforcement will now also cover online gambling with additional items that have monterey value, including digital goods like video game skins, cosmetics, and NFTs.

Any content that depicts, promotes, or facilitates social casino sites will now be age-restricted. An additional small subset of video game content featuring human characters that focuses on scenes of torture or scenes of mass violence against non-combatants will be age-restricted too.

How will YouTube’s new enforcement changes impact current videos?

The company, which is run by Google, has explained that they “expect most channels will experience little to no impact.” They continue to explain why the enforcement hasn’t kicked in straight away: “…we know this is a lot of information, and we want to ensure you have time to adapt.”

For existing videos that violate the guidelines, meaning content that has been uploaded before November 17, 2025, these may be removed or see an age-restriction added but they will not result in a strike. When age-restricted, this means accounts that are set as 18 years old or older are able to view them.

“For creators who have content that’s in-scope of these updates, you may be able to edit your video description or use our video editor trim or blur tools to make any necessary changes before November 17, 2025,” YouTube has said.

If a video is restricted in any way, or removed, the account user will be notified by email. If they disagree, YouTube says there’s an option to appeal the decision.

Featured Image: AI-generated via Ideogram

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