YouTube is walking back its infamous seven seconds rule.
Swearing has always had an uneasy place on the platform. Back before 2019, it was clear (thanks to demonetization symbols given out with such frequency you’d assume Oprah was on staff) that brands weren’t thrilled with some amount of cursing in content.
But what constituted ‘some amount’? Why were some videos hit with swearing demonetization, but not others? Were certain words allowed? Was there a fuck frequency scale?
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Turns out there was, sort of. In January 2019, YouTube finally codified an official stance: Cursing is fine, just don’t do it in the first 30-ish seconds of a video. YouTube said that words like “hell” and “damn” weren’t considered demonetization-worthy; the F-bomb was the biggest problem, and even it was allowed, so long as creators didn’t use it multiple times at the beginning of a video.
Then, in 2022, YouTube further narrowed the no-swearing window, saying that creators should be fine if they avoided using “strong profanity” in the first seven seconds of their videos. It also became stricter about enforcing that window.
It got backlash for this change–but not because of the policy itself. Instead, creators were upset with how little notice and explanation YouTube gave them. Some, like MoistCr1TiKaL, said they were hit with fresh demonetizations before they knew the rule existed, and others still weren’t clear on what exactly they could say without getting the big yellow button.
Now, YouTube is lifting the window altogether–and communicating this change with a clear, thorough Creator Insider video.
Creator Insider frontman Conor explains YouTube originally instituted the no-swearing window because it was adhering to TV broadcast standards. At the time, brands were just beginning to explore YouTube as a viable destination for ad dollars, and they didn’t seem to grasp that they couldn’t have the same standards for individual creators that they had for family dinnertime TV networks with squeaky-clean sitcoms.
“Advertisers expected ads on YouTube to have distance between profanity and the ad that just served,” Conor says. “Those expectations have changed, and advertisers already have the ability to target content to their desired level of profanity.”
We’re not surprised at the shift in expectations, considering YouTube has become the most-watched destination on TVs in the U.S., beating all traditional linear/broadcast networks and streaming services. Since it’s full of user-generated content with creators whose big draw is being real and relatable, advertisers who want to reach its sheer unbeatable volume of viewers have to loosen up.
Conor also acknowledges that the 2022 rollout didn’t go as smoothly as it could’ve. “Two years ago, we updated this policy, and you gave us feedback about how we could do better. You told us we didn’t do enough to explain the specifics. You may have even made a couple popular reaction videos based on that very policy update and how we approached it,” he says.
So what is the policy moving forward?
The official policy moving forward is that “strong profanity” like “fuck” can be used within the first seven seconds of a video without impacting that video’s monetization status.
Are there any caveats?
Yes. Creators still can’t use any swear words, strong or otherwise, in video thumbnails or titles. Swearing in those will get a video demonetized.
Additionally, “You have to pick and choose your fucks carefully,” Conor says, as YouTube still doesn’t allow “strong profanity with high frequency.”
“Think about a compilation video of the best swearing from a character in a show, where it’s used in most sentences in the upload,” he explains. “That high-frequency usage remains a violation of the advertiser-friendly content guidelines.”
So there you have it. Creators can rest assured now that they can still get paid while dropping F-bombs in the first seven seconds. And while we’re sure the next few weeks will be full of creators testing the limits of “high-frequency usage,” it’s clear YouTube is trying to make things more transparent for creators, while giving them more room to express their personalities.
