Most of the videos on YouTube abide by the rules but occasionally you'll come across a video that you think is inappropriate. This video may show pornographic or violent images, tutorials on making dangerous devices, or unnecessary amounts of vulgarity. Maybe they plagiarize the work of someone else and call it their own. In these cases, you can help YouTube identify the offending material by flagging the video.
To flag a video, navigate your mouse pointer to below the playing video, and click Flag (Figure 5-10). You will be able to select a specific reason you are flagging the video from the new drop-down menu that appears. Reasons to flag a video might include sexual content, violent content, and so on. Select your reason from the provided list.
Once a video is flagged, YouTube says it will be reviewed by a human being, and a decision will be made either to remove the offending video or to limit the age of the viewers who can access it. There are no published rules about how this decision is made. If YouTube allows the offending video to remain on the site, it has the choice to restrict its viewers to those whose accounts state they are older than 18. If it chooses to remove the video, the original uploader will have a strike against their account. Three strikes and you're out—banned. (You'll find more about banned and suspended accounts, and what to do if it happens to you, in Chapter 9.)
The flagging system is sometimes abused when certain members team up and flag a nonoffending video repeatedly, causing it to be removed and the original uploader to be punished. (Doing this is a violation of the terms of use and can get the bullies themselves banned.) However, with the number of videos uploaded to YouTube every hour, it would be impossible for YouTube to police every video without this system in place. It's far from perfect, but most of the time it works the way it should.
If you believe your video was flagged or removed without justification, you should contact YouTube and calmly explain the situation. YouTube's contact information changes frequently. For the most up-to-date email address or contact form, visit the Contact link at the bottom of nearly every YouTube page.