The recently released indie horror game The Mortuary Assistant has gotten popular among YouTube content creators, resulting in many video playthroughs from names like Jacksepticeye and CoryxKenshin. However, the game has also brought to light a number of issues surrounding YouTube and its policies.

Creator CoryxKenshin was the first to bring up YouTube’s questionable practices in relation to his playthrough of The Mortuary Assistant. In the video, he delves into heavy accusations and presents evidence to support his claims. Other YouTubers then uploaded their opinions on the matter, siding with CoryxKenshin and highlighting the need for YouTube to better administer its platform policies.

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CoryxKenshin’s Video Calling Out YouTube Age Restrictions

In a video titled “YouTube: Racism and Favoritism,” CoryxKenshin talked about his playthrough of The Mortuary Assistant and its status. When it was first uploaded on August 18, the YouTube team promptly age-restricted the video without telling CoryxKenshin why. This struck him as odd since many other creators were uploading their playthrough of The Mortuary Assistant yet none of them were age-restricted. He sent an appeal to remove the restriction but was denied.

CoryxKenshin then got in contact with his YouTube representative to ask about why his video was age-restricted. The representative replied saying that it could be because of a scene in the latter half of the video, which portrayed suicide-related imagery. Note that CoryxKenshin has since reuploaded his playthrough, and it no longer contains The Mortuary Assistant ending described. Still, he searched for the same scene in other YouTubers’ videos and found it in Markiplier’s playthrough of the game. However, Markiplier’s video was not age-restricted despite containing the same scene.

CoryxKenshin contacted his YouTube representative again, sharing what he’s learned, and finally, the team decides to reverse the age restriction. But this isn’t a good look for the company because now it looks like YouTube used Markiplier’s video to verify that CoryxKenshin’s wasn’t violating the guidelines of the self-harm policy. In the first place, YouTube should be consistent in enforcing its rules across the platform, not cherry-picking specific creators without giving them justification for the age restrictions.

CoryxKenshin then sent an email to his representative, bringing up heavy accusations about racism and favoritism against the YouTube team. What’s even more damning is that this isn’t his first brush with the company’s shady actions. CoryxKenshin details how YouTube always seems to flag or strike his content when he’s trending on the platform – almost as if they’re targeted moves against his channel. The most absurd instance involved YouTube flagging one of CoryxKenshin’s videos from 2019 after he’d just returned from a break. The company had plenty of time to take action on the old video but opted to do so when CoryxKenshin was back from his hiatus.

In response to his email, YouTube then age-restricts CoryxKenshin’s The Mortuary Assistant video again, but this time the company does the same to Markiplier’s. Had YouTube been consistent in upholding its guidelines, then this would have been the case from the beginning. However, the company has instead painted itself in a negative light because it seemingly targeted CoryxKenshin’s video while ignoring a similar video from another creator. Whether this is a case of racism, nepotism, or both is unclear, but it’s undoubtedly a shady and unfair move on YouTube’s part.

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Video Responses from Other YouTubers

jacksepticeye

CoryxKenshin’s callout video drew in plenty of attention as soon as it was uploaded. In response, many popular YouTubers jumped in to echo his sentiments, sharing their own anecdotes and opinions on the matter. YouTuber Penguinz0 was one of the earliest to upload a video, and he brings up two salient points.

First, he points out that the YouTube appeal system almost always churns out rejected appeals regardless of their content. This, in itself, is a problem and suggests that the entire appeal process needs an overhaul. Second, Penguinz0 highlights that the issue isn’t about siding with the YouTuber who is more “ad-friendly” (in other words, the one who brings in more ad profit). CoryxKenshin censors all swear words in his videos, so he’s arguably more ad-friendly than Markiplier. This only implicates YouTube further as the company needs to explain the reasoning behind such a seemingly counterintuitive decision.

SomeOrdinaryGamers also voiced his opinions in a video, this time emphasizing that YouTube needs to improve the system AI that automatically flags and/or age-restricts videos on the platform. In particular, if one video portrays scenes that need to be age-restricted, then the AI should be able to take that information and apply it to other similar videos. SomeOrdinaryGamers also brings up how the current YouTube system doesn’t work in favor of its creators, citing how difficult it is to contest or even avoid age restrictions and content strikes on YouTube – all of which boils down to a lack of transparency.

A Jacksepticeye video on the matter doubles down on the transparency issue, saying that inconsistencies like the one surrounding CoryxKenshin’s video need to be explained. He also brings up an important point about smaller creators who often don’t have a YouTube representative. These smaller channels likely don’t have the same privileges as bigger channels because they don’t have a direct line of contact with the company. Thus, it’s even harder for them to get a foothold on the platform because of all the aforementioned issues and inconsistencies.

Markiplier’s Scathing Response Video

In a totally family-friendly video titled “Try Not To Get AGE-RESTRICTED Challenge,” Markiplier plays the game Orc Massage, wherein a law-abiding, upstanding orc snags a job at a massage parlor. Suffice to say, the events that take place in the video are pretty suggestive, but the game is heavily censored for the video – to abide by YouTube guidelines, of course.

The fact that the video isn’t even age-restricted by the time of writing this article is just more proof of YouTube’s shady practices. Meanwhile, CoryxKenshin’s callout video was flagged for “ad suitability.” Again, it’s unclear whether it’s racism, favoritism, or a mix of both is the case here. But the discrimination is there, and Markiplier’s video all but proves it.

The Mortuary Assistant is now available on Steam, along with a free demo.

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