PURPOSE

This is a petition for YouTube to reinstate Dillon The Hacker's account on the grounds that this account did not violate YouTube's stated terms of service, and therefore was wrongfully terminated.

BACKGROUND

Dillon The Hacker is a comedy channel on YouTube with a subscriber base of approximately 26,000. Dillon is known for producing short, outlandish videos in which he comments on fictional, fabricated topics.  While the subjects of Dillon's videos are frequently other real-life YouTubers, these individuals typically recognize the satirical nature of Dillon's comedy and have rarely responded to his videos. The videos themselves could be considered PG-13; free of any nudity, hate speech, violence, or offensive content whatsoever.

On the morning of March 9, 2016, Dillon the Hacker's YouTube account was terminated with this official notice from YouTube. In the video cited, Dillon covers Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood' in a dramatically amateurish style. Towards the end of the video, Dillon vomits onscreen due to mock nervousness. The author of this petition has watched the video cited, and testifies that there was no nudity or sexual content in the video. Certainly, there was also no fetishized behavior.

Dillon the Hacker appealed his account termination on the morning it was terminated, and his appeal was denied that same morning.

What is False Flagging?

The YouTube colloquialism, 'false flag,' refers to creating a false report that some specific content is in violation of YouTube's terms of service. While a 'flag' may refer to any report of violation, a 'false flag' is a mode of harassment that aims to shut down content which is not actually in violation of YouTube's guidelines. Usually, false flags are initiated by emotionally immature viewers who disagree with an opinion mentioned in reported content and intend to censor that opinion.

In contrast to the YouTubers who have been mentioned in Dillon's videos but who have rarely acknowledged Dillon's presence on YouTube, some unabashedly zealous fanbases have reacted with disproportionate hostility to Dillon's content. As a result, Dillon's videos regularly accumulate tens of thousands of 'hate comments,' which often include lewd insults and threats of physical violence. These hate comments come from misguided fanbases who misperceive satire as earnest criticism, and who often false flag Dillon's videos in conjunction with leaving 'hate comments' in order to censor his mock opinions.

To be clear, YouTube has the right to police the content that users upload. However, the YouTube community implicitly and reasonably expects that YouTube would review flag reports before deleting videos and terminating accounts. It takes diligence for YouTube to ensure that flag reports are legitimate and that a video is actually in violation of a specific guideline.

Conclusion

Without any clear explanation for terminating Dillon from YouTube, it can only be assumed that Dillon is the victim of false flagging. YouTube terminated his account without doing the due diligence to determine whether his cover of Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood' is in violation of its terms of service.

Implications

The termination of Dillon The Hacker comes at a time when YouTube is becoming increasingly recognized for a disturbing pattern of behavior. In January 2016, YouTuber I Hate Everything was terminated from YouTube, only to have his account reinstated without any apology or even a basic explanation. Dillon, himself, maintains a second channel, Dillon Prescott Henderson, which was suspended for a period of seven months before similarly being reinstated without any apology. YouTube's official explanation for reinstating Dillon Prescott Henderson was that his channel had never been in violation of YouTube's policies. However, YouTube did not explain how it was determined that the channel should be terminated to begin with, why it took so long to reinstate, and what YouTube is now doing to ensure that this never happens ever again.

Dillon uploaded a video to his primary channel, Dillon The Hacker, lamenting YouTube's mishandling of Dillon Prescott Henderson. Only a few weeks later, Dillon The Hacker has been permanently terminated. This suspicious timeline of events creates the perception that this may have partially been in retaliation for Dillon's video criticizing YouTube.

Closing Statement

It is important for us, as the YouTube community, to hold YouTube to a high standard of professionalism in its interactions with content creators. When a video is flagged for inappropriate content, we expect that YouTube would conduct a thorough investigation, which should always include personal phone or e-mail interaction with the content creator, so the person can defend the status of his or her account.

We, as the YouTube community, insist on reviewing a direct explanation for why Dillon The Hacker has been deleted from YouTube.