Youtube removed my channel!
I wanted to share my recent experience as a warning to fellow content creators, particularly parents who manage multiple YouTube channels under one account.
I’ve been running a YouTube channel for several years called @northerncoder, where I regularly post coding tutorials. Alongside that, I had a few brand channels linked to the same Google account, which my young daughters occasionally used to post fun YouTube Shorts.
Unfortunately, one of those Shorts—posted by my younger daughter—used copyrighted music from a popular K-pop movie. The video unexpectedly went viral, racking up over 80,000 views in a single day.
As soon as I saw the sudden spike and realized the copyright issue, I sat down with her to explain the implications of using copyrighted content. I deleted the video proactively, assuming this would resolve the matter and serve as a good learning experience for her.
But the next day, I received an email from YouTube stating that the entire channel had been terminated. The message implied that I was now banned from uploading content on YouTube altogether.
I filed an appeal, but it was automatically rejected, presumably by an algorithm or bot—there was no indication a human had reviewed it.
Worse still, another brand account—used by my older daughter—was also terminated shortly after, flagged under the vague category of “circumvention.” This led me to believe that termination of one brand channel can affect all linked channels under the same account, regardless of who actually manages them.
The Lesson?
Don’t allow your kids to post videos to brand channels tied to your main YouTube account. One misstep—even a well-intentioned one—can result in the loss of your entire YouTube presence, with no clear path to appeal or resolution.
If you’re a parent and a creator, consider this a cautionary tale. Learn from my experience and take extra steps to separate accounts and educate your kids early about copyright and content guidelines.
I hope this helps someone else avoid the same fate.