Multiple YouTubers are reporting sudden and unexplained channel bans. Entire accounts are being removed overnight without warning, and most creators say they cannot reach anyone for help. The wave of false terminations appears to come from YouTube’s increasing reliance on artificial intelligence to enforce policies without human review. Many of the affected channels are legitimate and long-standing, yet the system continues to flag them for supposed “associations” that make little sense.
AI-driven enforcement gone wrong
Tech creator Enderman, known for his technology videos and a following of more than 350,000 subscribers, had his channels terminated in early November after being falsely linked to a Japanese-language account that had multiple copyright strikes. The decision came suddenly, with no prior notice and no evidence of a real connection. YouTube informed him that his channel was associated with a terminated account, something he insists he had never even heard of.
In a farewell post on X (formerly Twitter), Enderman shared how much his work meant to him and called for human review amid what he described as “AI business.”
2016-2025
These 9 years will always remain dear to me. All the connections I’ve made, all the fun I’ve had making the videos. This is not going down the drain. The only hope for this YouTube channel is a divine human intervention amidst all the AI business. https://t.co/0CpX5SBx3O
— Enderman (@endermanch) November 3, 2025
He later explained that YouTube’s artificial intelligence appeared to have automatically linked his account with another, completely unrelated channel. “I had no idea such drastic measures like channel termination were allowed to be processed by AI,” he told his viewers. “It’s really unfortunate we have to end so abruptly.” His experience has since become one of many examples of creators losing their channels to false AI decisions.
Other creators face the same problem
Enderman is far from alone. Other creators have experienced nearly identical terminations, often being accused of “association” with accounts they have never interacted with. One of them, Tarkin, reached out to @TeamYouTube after his appeal was denied. He pleaded for assistance, saying he had no idea why his channel was supposedly linked to a Japanese account.
@TeamYoutube, my channel (https://t.co/0IkQwFUiqO) was terminated for being linked to a channel that was terminated previously. I cannot fathom how it could be linked, I have never seen this Japanese channel in my life.
My appeal ‘after additional review’ was denied. Please help. pic.twitter.com/6bFZCCEHo2— tarkin (@bigtarkin) November 3, 2025
Well-known YouTuber ThioJoe also called out the issue publicly, referring to it as a “P0-level bug” that appears to be affecting multiple creators at once.
Hello @TeamYouTube why are so many channels being banned for supposedly being associated with random Japanese channels?
Very alarming P0-level bug in your system.
Examples:https://t.co/09ZoLs878Ohttps://t.co/NoNFX4pTIphttps://t.co/mJKplKf7uE
— ThioJoe (@thiojoe) November 4, 2025
Dozens of smaller creators have shared similar experiences. Each story includes the same vague message and the same lack of clarity. The pattern points to a possible flaw in YouTube’s automated enforcement that misreads connections between unrelated users.
Could shared VPNs be responsible?
Some creators are speculating that these false associations may be linked to shared IP addresses from VPN services. Many YouTubers use VPNs for privacy, regional uploads, or testing how content appears in other countries. If several creators share the same exit IP, YouTube’s system could interpret that as evidence of multiple accounts being operated by one person.
There is no proof that VPN usage is causing the bans, but it remains a possible explanation. Creators on Reddit and X have noted that they sometimes connect from overlapping regions or the same public VPN endpoints. Others point out that shared metadata, browser cookies, or AdSense accounts might also confuse YouTube’s automated systems. Without transparency from YouTube, no one can confirm what is really happening, but many are urging others to avoid using shared networks until the situation becomes clearer.
Support that fails when it matters most
The most common complaint among affected creators is that YouTube’s support has become almost impossible to reach. When a channel is removed, the owner typically receives a brief email stating the reason but no real information about what triggered it. The appeal process is handled automatically and rarely results in restoration. For many, the process ends there, no matter how long they have been creating content.
What makes this worse is that legitimate reports about scams and impersonation channels often go ignored for months. Fake giveaway videos, crypto scams, and stolen reuploads remain online, while established creators lose their accounts overnight. This double standard has become a major source of anger within the community.
Twitter becomes the only real help line
Since internal support has become unreliable, creators are turning to Twitter as a last resort. By tagging @TeamYouTube publicly, some have managed to get a response and have their accounts reviewed. However, this method is far from fair. It favors larger creators with big followings who can generate attention, while smaller channels remain unnoticed. The system effectively rewards social influence rather than fairness or evidence.
Many creators feel that this form of “public customer service” is unethical. YouTube’s platform issues should be resolved privately through reliable communication channels, not through viral posts. Yet, for many creators, social pressure is the only way to get results.
Automation without accountability
Experts believe that YouTube’s AI moderation tracks accounts through shared information such as recovery emails, devices, or payment data. In theory, this should help detect fraud and spam. In practice, it has led to innocent creators being flagged through coincidence or flawed data. Once an account is flagged, the ban is applied to every account deemed “associated,” and the appeals process offers no way to dispute the underlying data.
For creators who rely on YouTube for income, this can be devastating. Losing a channel means losing ad revenue, memberships, sponsors, and years of search ranking progress. Even if an account is reinstated, the damage to performance and credibility can last for months. Some creators have already started archiving their work and moving to other platforms to avoid losing everything again.
Silence from YouTube
YouTube has not issued an official statement about these mass terminations or the growing number of false bans. The lack of transparency has left creators guessing about what went wrong. It also suggests that a large portion of the moderation process is now fully automated, without any human intervention to confirm or correct AI mistakes.
Creators and viewers alike are urging YouTube to restore human oversight. Automation is useful for scale, but it cannot understand intent or context. Without accountability, creators feel that their channels could disappear at any moment for reasons they cannot control or even understand.
What YouTube needs to fix
To restore trust, creators and digital policy advocates have suggested several changes:
- Require manual review before permanent account terminations or “associated account” bans.
- Disclose the signals used to link accounts and allow users to challenge false matches.
- Provide clear explanations in termination notices instead of vague summaries.
- Hire more real support staff to handle appeals directly rather than through automation.
- Investigate potential VPN and IP overlap issues that could be causing false flags.
- Focus enforcement on real malware, scams, and spam instead of long-time creators.
Creators take precautions
Many creators are already adapting. They are separating their business accounts, using unique logins, and diversifying their income across multiple platforms. Others are backing up their content libraries or setting up private archives with fellow creators in case their channels are removed again. The overall mood is cautious but determined, as many still love the platform despite its flaws.
While it remains unclear what exactly is causing the sudden bans, the growing number of reports shows a pattern that YouTube cannot afford to ignore. Whether it is a data correlation error, a shared VPN issue, or a deeper AI malfunction, creators are asking for one simple thing: a fair and human review process. Until that happens, they will continue to live under the constant risk of losing everything they have built to an algorithm that cannot tell the difference between a scammer and a real person.
