YouTube’s trending side is typically full of straightforward content like music videos, comedy sketches, and game trailers, along with popular YouTubers like Mr. Beast and SSSniperWolf. However, on August 24, the number one trending video was an outcry against the platform itself, with allegations of racism or nepotism being leveled at Google’s video-sharing service. The excitement was all over the platform covering a gameplay video. The explosive claims have prompted other top YouTubers, from Moistcr1tikal to Philip DeFranco, to debate how unevenly YouTube’s content moderation team enforces its policies.
Cory “CoryxKenshin” Williams is a Black YouTuber and internet personality with over 14 million subscribers, best known for his humorous content. He started uploading comedy skits in 2009 before moving on to making horror game videos and popular titles such as bloodborne and Five nights at Freddy’s. While he regularly takes breaks from the platform, his contagious personality keeps him trending for several days in a row almost every time he returns to post content on YouTube. I mean, in the last 30 days alone, it’s garnered about 100 million views. That’s damn impressive.
So, if CoryxKenshin is having such success on YouTube, why is he making such serious allegations on the platform? Well it swings around The Corpse Helper
Uploaded CoryxKenshin an hour-long playthrough of The Corpse Helper‘s demo on August 18th. On the same day – apparently even within hours – the video was age-restricted, meaning you’ll need to sign in to confirm you’re over 18 to watch it. CoryxKenshin said YouTube didn’t provide an explanation as to why. He appealed the moderation, only for YouTube to deny that appeal, and confirmed in an email that the video “violated our community guidelines,” but would not contextualize what that meant or what part of the video violated the violated YouTube rules. CoryxKenshin then had a chat with his partner manager while browsing the platform for other people’s videos The Corpse Helper was age restricted. There weren’t any, at least in the beginning.
His rep suggested that perhaps the ending of his video, in which a character battles depression and self-harm, could be the reason for the content moderation. Although CoryxKenshin didn’t know exactly what triggered the restriction, he began comparing his content to that of other creators showing the same scenes. Then he found it Markiplier’s video The Corpse Helperthat shared the same gameplay was not age restricted, leading him to believe that favoritism, racism, or both played a role on the platform.
Instead of having a dialogue with CoryxKenshin about his video and why it was age-restricted while Markiplier wasn’t, YouTube apparently removed the age restriction from CoryxKenshin’s video before restoring it and age-restricting Markiplier’s video a few days later. This obviously pissed off CoryxKenshin, not because it wasn’t a good development. It kind of was, but this just seems to illustrate the unequal weight YouTube applies in enforcing its policies. CoryxKenshin even mentioned that he “spits out swear words in video games” and doesn’t use strong language in his content, so he’s completely taken aback by how YouTube seems to treat him so differently.
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“Why is my channel getting so much more scrutiny than my peers?” CoryxKenshin asked, frustration clearly swelling in his throat. “When I say peers, I mean people on my level, with about my view count. Just to keep it simple, why is my channel getting so much more scrutiny, especially when I’ve been #1 trending for several days in a row, which I’ve done several times?”
CoryxKenshin said this is also not the first time YouTube has unfairly moderated his channel. He recounted another case in 2021
“Every time I start to feel an increase in traction, an increase in activity, YouTube comes through, ‘Hey, let’s get him for this 2019 video. See that Cory? No, that’s bad,'” CoryxKenshin said. “The nine months I wasn’t on the platform weren’t bad. It was only bad when I came back and I was trending #1. This situation was only bad because I’ve been trending number 1 since coming back. Every other YouTuber has uploaded The Corpse Helperand now youtube is about to put in some age restrictions because i called them about unfair behavior.”
my box has reached out to CoryxKenshin, Darkstone Digital, Markiplier, and YouTube for comment.
Many people online have shown support for CoryxKenshin’s outspokenness. YouTubers like Jidion suggested company boss Susan Wojcicki “Sit down and talk through these issues” with CoryxKenshin. News commentator Omni said nobody “is surprised at this point” of one of those allegations, while Twitch streamer CashNasty gave “Respect CoryxKenshin” for telling his truth. Even big names on the platform have created videos on the subject, including Ludwig, Philip DeFrancoand moisture critical, most of whom agree that YouTube’s content moderation policies are vague at best and garbage at worst, and that in CoryxKenshin’s case, there’s something cute going on behind the scenes. Although YouTube hasn’t said anything publicly yet, the situation seems to have grown far too big for the platform to ignore right now.