YouTube AI accused of banning channel for including business email in video description

YouTube’s automated moderation is under fire again after a creator claimed he was banned for simply listing their business email in a video description.

As 2025 draws to a close, creators have repeatedly warned that AI-driven moderation enforcement is spiraling out of control across the platform.

Tech YouTuber Enderman said multiple channels with hundreds of thousands of subscribers were wiped out overnight, arguing the decisions came from automated systems with no human oversight.

In another viral incident, SpooknJukes had a video restricted after YouTube flagged his laugh as “graphic content.” The video was only fully monetized once the laugh was removed.

Elsewhere, YouTube’s AI even shut down a livestream after mistaking a microphone for a firearm.

Now, YouTuber Boxel is hitting out at the platform, alleging their channel was terminated all because of an email in their video description.

YouTuber says platform’s AI banned channel because of their email

In a series of posts, Boxel, who was banned for over 30 days, claimed that they finally figured out why they had been terminated.

“They said I redirected viewers [to] ‘another site’ which I never did. But, I know what is actually the case. YouTube AI have mistaken my business email for another site.”

In an attached email from YouTube, the platform claimed that Boxel’s account had been taken down for violating the site’s spam policies, which include promising viewers something in a video and redirecting them to another website.

“This is the exact thing that could have triggered YouTube AI moderation that wiped my channel wrongfully. Having email in description IS NOT against YouTube Policy,” the creator blasted. “YouTube thinks my email is redirecting users to another site.”

Boxel continued to accuse YouTube’s AI of not knowing the difference between an email and a link.

“Fix the Mistake! The email in my description is not malicious practice!” they exclaimed. “It’s fair and allowed. Just because it ends with ‘.com’ [doesn’t] mean it’s a link. It’s my email.”

YouTube denies banning user for including their Gmail in video

YouTube responded to the accusations, claiming that the channel was terminated for a different reason altogether.

“This channel was terminated correctly for violations that had nothing to do with their business email,” the platform said.

They followed this by defending their recent moderation rulings, claiming the majority of moderation decisions they’ve reviewed “have been correct.” YouTube itself ultimately decides whether or not a ruling is “correct” or not.

“When we make a mistake, we own it and work hard to fix it,” they added.

This isn’t the first time the platform has defended its moderation policies. Earlier in December, the site defended terminating 12 million channels, noting how 20.5M channels were terminated in Q4 2023 alone.