YouTube reverses course on 'verification' -- you will keep your badges
The new plan is to protect creators from impersonation.
Yesterday YouTube announced plans to change its policy around channel verification status. In a move to follow other social networks, the company said changes tying approval to authenticity and prominence would mean some might lose their tag, and would have to go through appeals to keep it.
After a quick and loud backlash to the plan YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki apologized, and YouTube just announced "Channels that currently have verification will now keep it without appeal." The plan is still to reopen its process for verification next month for all channels that have over 100,000 subscribers, with an eye toward stamping the tag on channels that are both "authentic" and "complete."
What's happening with channel verification?
We won't remove verification based on the criteria we announced yesterday. If you received an email that your channel will no longer be verified, you no longer need to submit an appeal. You'll keep verification on your channel.
As always, we'll still remove verification if we find that a channel is attempting to impersonate another creator or brand. If you change your channel's name, the renamed channel won't be verified and you'll need to reapply.
UPDATE 1: We heard loud & clear how much the badge means to you. Channels that currently have verification will now keep it without appeal. We'll continue reviewing those channels to ensure we're protecting creators from impersonation. More on our changes: https://t.co/B715A8xq2f
— Susan Wojcicki (@SusanWojcicki) September 20, 2019
UPDATE 2: Like in the past, channels that reach 100k subs will be eligible to apply for verification. To better clarify how channels will qualify, we've updated the eligibility criteria here: https://t.co/SXwevL2ixO
The new look for the badge will not roll out until next year. pic.twitter.com/KW8ErX0qLa— Susan Wojcicki (@SusanWojcicki) September 20, 2019
