YouTube personality Belle Delphine has been banned from YouTube for sexually explicit content. According to her, however, she wasn't issued any warnings prior, and many fans and other YouTubers are calling this a "double standard" on the massive platform's part.
YouTube has a well-known three strike policy, but before that, content creators are supposed to be issued a warning before any drastic measures are taken. These three strikes are also to occur within the same 90-day period to result in permanent termination of the channel, according to the YouTube Help Community Guidelines page. However, in some cases, "severe abuse" can result in the channel being banned without warning. It's possible this is what happened to YouTuber Belle Delphine when she was permanently banned on November 20th.
Delphine has never been shy about releasing sexually explicit content. In fact, her channel seems to thrive off it, but the videos also oftentimes meant to be jokes, such as the time she ate a picture of PewDiePie. Last year, Delphine even sold her own bathwater, branding it "GamerGirl Bath Water," which sparked some controversy online as well as memes.
This type of content looks to have resulted in the permanent ban of Delphine from the platform, whose channel now reads that she was terminated due to "multiple or severe violations of YouTube's policy on nudity or sexual content." Delphine stated on Twitter that she was not issued any warnings or strikes prior to the permanent ban. This also isn't the first time that the entertainer has been kicked off a platform; she was banned from Instagram in July of 2019.
Many are calling the banning of her YouTube channel a "double standard" because other channels boast similar content without an issue. Delphine and Keemstar on Twitter pointed out a comparison to the "WAP" music video from Cardi B, which currently has over 160 million views on the platform. One fan went so far as to put up side by side comparison of Delphine's sexually explicit content next to "WAP," which is about women's confident display of their own bodies.
Earlier this year, Belle Delphine spoke up in defense of YouTuber Leafy's ban when he was terminated without warning but for violating the company's harassment policies and was shortly after banned from Twitch for the same offense. Though Leafy was not successful in regaining his YouTube account following his criticism toward the platform, perhaps Delphine has a chance to appeal the allegedly sudden decision made by YouTube.