A rumored FTC complaint would accuse YouTube of misrepresenting its content moderation policies

Do YouTube users have a clear understanding of the platform’s policies when they sign up? Or are the rules being applied differently from how they read? Those questions could be up for debate if a rumored lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) moves forward.

Bloomberg, which cited “people familiar with the probe,” reported that the FTC is in the “final stages” of its preparing its complaint. The agency is expected to argue that YouTube’s rules appear to permit certain types of content, only for that content to later be branded as violative — leading to channel suspensions and demotions in the platform’s recommendation algorithm.

The sources did not identify specific rules or categories that would be targeted by the pending probe, but the Trump White House has repeated tussled with YouTube over the platform’s response to topics like election denialism and COVID-19 misinformation. YouTube initially came down hard on those types of content, but its stance has softened during Trump’s second term.

Last month, at an appearance in Aspen, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson announced his intent to police bait-and-switch policies across the social web. “Whatever your policies are, you have to follow them. You can’t present one form of policy to consumers when they’re deciding whether to use your platform and then have a completely different one in practice,” Ferguson said. “We are going to examine to make sure that companies that make representations about their speech policies online are living up to them.”

For YouTube, however, free expression has long been a tricky topic. Content ID, an important layer of protection for rights holders, has also sparked questions about what should and shouldn’t be demonetized. That debate reared its head during the infamous 2017 “Adpocalypse,” when YouTube had to find a balance between questionable content and brand interests.

Recent complications like AI slop have led to more channel suspensions, but YouTube has also acknowledged that it sometimes goes to far when handing out punishments. A “Second Chance” program, offers reprieves to channels once branded as rulebreakers.

Those updated policies could work in YouTube’s favor should an encounter with the FTC come to pass. YouTube hasn’t commented on the rumored case just yet, but its lawyers are certainly keeping busy.