{
 "source": "https://channelterminated.com/data/myths/",
 "title": "YouTube Termination Myths and Misquoted Numbers: 53 Claims Checked (October 2026)",
 "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
 "updated": "2026-10-10",
 "tables": [
  {
   "table": 1,
   "columns": [
    "#",
    "Claim (as commonly repeated)",
    "Verdict",
    "What is correct",
    "Source"
   ],
   "rows": [
    {
     "#": "1",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“You have 21 days to appeal a channel termination.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "The 21-day window belongs to Partner Program suspensions and application rejections. For a channel termination, YouTube’s Help Center allows appeals up to one year from the termination date, with at most two appeals in that year (as of October 2026).",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 2802168 ; YouTube Help 9564590"
    },
    {
     "#": "2",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“You can appeal as often as you like” / “You only get one appeal.”",
     "Verdict": "Misleading",
     "What is correct": "Both are imprecise. Since September 29–30, 2026 the Help Center says creators can submit two appeals within the one-year period, plus a further limit per termination; the TeamYouTube FAQ of November 13, 2025 still says one appeal per termination. What is certain: the number is limited, so the first appeal has to be complete.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 2802168 ; TeamYouTube FAQ, November 13, 2025"
    },
    {
     "#": "3",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“YouTube must warn you before terminating your channel.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "No such legal duty exists in the US, the UK or India. The Terms promise only a notice of the reason, with exceptions, and YouTube terminates without warning for a single case of severe abuse or a channel dedicated to a violation. The German BGH line requiring a prior hearing is national contract law (§ 307 BGB) and does not apply elsewhere.",
     "Source": "YouTube Terms of Service, US version (December 15, 2023) ; YouTube Help 2802168 ; BGH, III ZR 179/20 and III ZR 192/20, July 29, 2021"
    },
    {
     "#": "4",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“A human reviews your appeal within X days” / “Termination appeals take 24 hours” / “… 14 days.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "YouTube publishes no processing time for termination appeals; Studio only shows an individual “anticipated review time”. The 14-day response applies to Partner Program appeals. YouTube’s Help page says a human reviews an appealed decision case by case; press reports from December 2025 described rejections within hours.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 2802168 ; YouTube Help 13304829 ; YouTube Help 9564590"
    },
    {
     "#": "4a",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Three strikes automatically terminate your channel.”",
     "Verdict": "Outdated",
     "What is correct": "Since February 2025 the Help page says three Community Guidelines strikes within 90 days “may result in your channel being permanently removed”; before that it said “results”. The older “Community guidelines tips” page still says “will be terminated” and contradicts the governing page.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 2802032 ; YouTube Help 12950271 (outdated tips page)"
    },
    {
     "#": "4b",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“You have 90 days to appeal a strike.”",
     "Verdict": "Outdated",
     "What is correct": "Since June 2025, warnings and strikes can be appealed for 6 months after they were issued (previously 90 days), and content removals for up to one year since August 2025. Each strike can be appealed only once.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 185111"
    },
    {
     "#": "4c",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Policy training was introduced in 2024.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "Optional policy training that lets a warning expire 90 days after completion was introduced on August 29, 2023 (changelog: “Starting August 29, Community Guidelines warnings may now expire”).",
     "Source": "YouTube policy updates (changelog) ; YouTube Help 2802032"
    },
    {
     "#": "4d",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“If your appeal is rejected, wait two weeks and resubmit.”",
     "Verdict": "Outdated",
     "What is correct": "This advice comes from an old appeal form used before 2021. Today the number of appeals is limited and, since September 30, 2026, YouTube “may send automated replies” if you resubmit an appeal that has already been reviewed or exceed your appeal limit.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 2802168 (archived versions compared)"
    },
    {
     "#": "4e",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“YouTube’s termination email tells you exactly which video caused the termination.”",
     "Verdict": "Not verified",
     "What is correct": "YouTube publishes no template texts. Documented emails name the policy (for example spam, deceptive practices and scams) and speak of severe or repeated violations; a specific video is not reliably named. Quoted “standard wordings” such as “after careful review” are unverified.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 2802168 ; User screenshots and press reports (secondary)"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "table": 2,
   "columns": [
    "#",
    "Claim (as commonly repeated)",
    "Verdict",
    "What is correct",
    "Source"
   ],
   "rows": [
    {
     "#": "5",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Just start a new channel” / “use a VPN, a new email or a new phone.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "Terminated creators are “prohibited from using, possessing, or creating any other YouTube channels”, including channels in which they are repeatedly or prominently featured. Circumvention leads to termination of the new channels, and outstanding revenue is reclaimed. The only official restart is Second Chances, at the earliest one year after the termination.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 2802168 ; YouTube policy updates (changelog) ; YouTube Help 2801981"
    },
    {
     "#": "6",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Second Chances restores your old channel, videos and subscribers.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "Second Chances grants a new channel – “a fresh start on YouTube”. Old videos may be re-uploaded if they comply with the Community Guidelines; subscribers are not transferred, and the Partner Program has to be applied for again.",
     "Source": "YouTube blog, “Second chances on YouTube”, October 9, 2025 ; YouTube Help 16369459"
    },
    {
     "#": "7",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Second Chances applies to everyone.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "Excluded are terminations for copyright, violations of the Creator Responsibility policies, and creators who deleted their channel or Google Account. The rollout is a gradual pilot, so not every eligible creator sees the option at once.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 16369459 ; YouTube blog, “Second chances on YouTube”, October 9, 2025"
    },
    {
     "#": "7a",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“If your Second Chances request is denied you can never return” / “it launched on October 8” / “it is US-only.”",
     "Verdict": "Not verified",
     "What is correct": "None of this is in the blog post or the Help page. The TeamYouTube forum post says only that there is currently no further way back after a renewed termination. The pilot started on October 9, 2025, and no country restriction has been published.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 16369459 ; TeamYouTube forum announcement, October 9, 2025 ; YouTube blog, “Second chances on YouTube”, October 9, 2025"
    },
    {
     "#": "7b",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Second Chances was created because of government pressure.”",
     "Verdict": "Not verified",
     "What is correct": "That is an interpretation in press coverage. Documented is an Alphabet letter to the House Judiciary Committee of September 23, 2025 announcing a way back for creators terminated under retired COVID-19 and election policies; an official link between that letter and the pilot is not documented.",
     "Source": "Alphabet letter to the House Judiciary Committee, September 23, 2025 ; YouTube blog, “Second chances on YouTube”, October 9, 2025"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "table": 3,
   "columns": [
    "#",
    "Claim (as commonly repeated)",
    "Verdict",
    "What is correct",
    "Source"
   ],
   "rows": [
    {
     "#": "8",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“TeamYouTube, Creator Support or the Creator Liaison can overturn your termination.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "TeamYouTube’s own Help page lists “You disagree with a policy decision” among the things it does not help with; the Studio help chat “cannot directly make changes to your account”; the Creator Liaison does not provide individual case support. Public posts have led to re-reviews in individual reported cases, but there is no entitlement.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 13646088 ; YouTube Help 6249136"
    },
    {
     "#": "9",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“TeamYouTube is available 24/7” / “TeamYouTube answers in German.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "The X account is monitored from Monday 9 AM PT to Friday 5 PM PT – not at weekends – in English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. German, Indonesian, Arabic and Hindi were removed from the list between February and April 2026.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 13646088"
    },
    {
     "#": "10",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Pay a recovery service or an insider to get your channel back.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "There is no paid shortcut. Google: “We don’t work with any service that claims to provide account or password support.” Never hand over a password – Google never asks for passwords or verification codes by email, phone call or message.",
     "Source": "Google Account Help 7682439 ; Google Account Help 7299973"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "table": 4,
   "columns": [
    "#",
    "Claim (as commonly repeated)",
    "Verdict",
    "What is correct",
    "Source"
   ],
   "rows": [
    {
     "#": "11",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“YouTube terminated 12 million channels in 2025” / “12 million creators.”",
     "Verdict": "Misleading",
     "What is correct": "12,460,248 channels were removed from January to September 2025; the full year 2025 was 15,875,020 channels. Channels are not creators – TeamYouTube: “Channels terminated doesn’t = Creators terminated” – and most removals are spam, partly networks with hundreds of channels.",
     "Source": "Google Transparency Report – YouTube Community Guidelines enforcement ; TeamYouTube on X, December 11, 2025"
    },
    {
     "#": "12",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Terminations went up (or down) because of …” – comparing quarters across Q2 2025.",
     "Verdict": "Misleading",
     "What is correct": "The Transparency Report changed its method in Q2 2025: each channel is now counted once even with several violations, certain deceptive-practices terminations moved from misinformation to spam, and since September 2026 impersonation terminations count under spam. Before-and-after comparisons need that caveat.",
     "Source": "Transparency Report Help 9198203 (methodology changes)"
    },
    {
     "#": "13",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“ Appeals Centre Europe overturns YouTube 59% of the time” / “the EU ruled against YouTube in a lawsuit.”",
     "Verdict": "Misleading",
     "What is correct": "The 59% figure is cross-platform and counts only cases where the content could be reviewed; 72% of all decisions were default decisions because the platform supplied no content. The 488 YouTube cases in the May 2026 report are admissible disputes, not decisions. Dispute-body decisions are not court judgments, and Google states it is not bound by them.",
     "Source": "Appeals Centre Europe, Transparency Report May 2026 ; Google – DSA redress options (“not bound”)"
    },
    {
     "#": "14",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“EU appeals succeed X% of the time, so yours will too.”",
     "Verdict": "Misleading",
     "What is correct": "Google’s DSA reports show reversal rates of roughly 18–32% for suspension complaints and about 50% for monetization restrictions among decided cases (H2 2025 and H1 2026). They are aggregate figures with overlapping categories, not a forecast for any individual appeal, and no service may present them as its own results.",
     "Source": "Google DSA transparency reports for YouTube, H2 2025 and H1 2026"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "table": 5,
   "columns": [
    "#",
    "Claim (as commonly repeated)",
    "Verdict",
    "What is correct",
    "Source"
   ],
   "rows": [
    {
     "#": "15",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Copyright strikes expire automatically after 90 days.”",
     "Verdict": "Outdated",
     "What is correct": "Since about August 1, 2025 a copyright strike expires after 90 days only if you complete Copyright School and your channel has fewer than three strikes; otherwise “it will remain active on your channel”. There was no changelog entry for this change.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 2814000 (archived July 29 and August 1, 2025)"
    },
    {
     "#": "16",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Partner Program channels get a 7-day grace period after the third copyright strike.”",
     "Verdict": "Outdated",
     "What is correct": "The “7-day courtesy period” has not appeared on any current Help page since about August 2025. Whether it is still granted internally is unknown; do not present it as current.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 2814000 (archived versions)"
    },
    {
     "#": "17",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“A Content ID claim is a strike.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "“Copyright claims affect videos, but usually don't impact your channel or account.” Strikes come only from a valid copyright removal request. A dispute without a valid reason can, however, lead the claimant to file a removal request – and then a strike.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 6013276 ; YouTube Help 2797454"
    },
    {
     "#": "18",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Deleting the video removes the strike.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "“In all other cases, deleting a video doesn’t resolve a copyright strike.” The one exception is a scheduled removal request: deleting the video within the 7-day window, before the strike is issued, avoids it. For Community Guidelines strikes, deleting the video keeps the strike and ends your right to appeal.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 2814000 ; YouTube Help 13823830 ; YouTube Help 185111"
    },
    {
     "#": "19",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“The claimant has 10 days after a counter notification .”",
     "Verdict": "Misleading",
     "What is correct": "YouTube’s page says “10 US business days”; 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(2)(C) requires restoration “not less than 10, nor more than 14, business days” after receipt of the counter notice unless a lawsuit is notified. If proof of a lawsuit arrives later, YouTube may remove the content again.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 2807684 ; 17 U.S.C. § 512(g) (Cornell LII) ; YouTube Help 12497556"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "table": 6,
   "columns": [
    "#",
    "Claim (as commonly repeated)",
    "Verdict",
    "What is correct",
    "Source"
   ],
   "rows": [
    {
     "#": "20",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“AI voices and text-to-speech are banned from monetization.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "No official rule bans AI voices or text-to-speech. What gets channels demonetized is mass-produced, generic or repetitive content, merely reading out other people’s material ( reused content ), and AI personas posing as human experts on health, legal, financial or political topics.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 1311392"
    },
    {
     "#": "21",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“The AI label hurts reach or revenue.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "YouTube’s Help page states that disclosing AI content “won’t limit a video’s audience or impact its eligibility to earn money”. Since late May 2026 the setting is “AI use” and the label “Made with AI”, no longer “altered or synthetic content”.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 14328491 ; YouTube Help 15447836"
    },
    {
     "#": "22",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Reused content is about copyright” / “permission from the original creator makes it OK.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "The reused content rule is “not based on copyright, permission, or fair use”. It applies even with the original creator’s permission; what counts is significant original commentary, substantive modification or educational or entertainment value.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 1311392"
    },
    {
     "#": "23",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“The ‘ inauthentic content ’ rule is a Community Guidelines strike.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "It was a Partner Program monetization rule (renamed from “repetitious content” on July 15, 2025) and leads only to loss of monetization; since July 2026 the material sits under “Generic or Repetitive Content”. Strikes and terminations come from the Spam Policy, for example “Automated or synthetic mass-production” and “Scraped content”.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 1311392 ; YouTube Help 2801973"
    },
    {
     "#": "24",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“YouTube announced its new spam policy in June 2026” / “scraped and AI content was banned for the first time in 2026.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "There was no announcement and no changelog entry; archived pages show the old structure on May 28, 2026 and the new “Spam Policy” with nine sub-categories on June 4, 2026. The old “Video Spam” category already covered mass-uploaded scraped and auto-generated content; 2026 is a restructuring and sharpening.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 2801973 (archived versions) ; YouTube policy updates (changelog)"
    },
    {
     "#": "25",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“The monetization update took effect on July 16, 2026.”",
     "Verdict": "Not verified",
     "What is correct": "Archived versions show the restructured monetization policies live between July 9 and July 14, 2026; no official date was published and there is no changelog entry. July 16 comes from a press report.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 1311392 (archived versions)"
    },
    {
     "#": "26",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“You need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours to monetize.”",
     "Verdict": "Misleading",
     "What is correct": "Correct until January 31, 2027. From February 1, 2027 new applicants need 1,000 subscribers plus 8,000 qualified watch hours in the last 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days, plus activity requirements. Channels already in the program keep their status.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 72851 ; YouTube Help 12843009"
    },
    {
     "#": "27",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Delete problematic videos before your Partner Program appeal.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "YouTube reviews the channel “in its current state” and says “you shouldn’t delete videos before submitting your appeal”.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 9564590"
    },
    {
     "#": "28",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Partner Program video appeals can be in German.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "The listed languages are Arabic, Bengali, English, French, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese. Other languages need English subtitles that are not auto-generated.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 9564590"
    },
    {
     "#": "29",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Termination means all your money is gone” / “YouTube must pay out everything.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "YouTube “may also withhold unpaid earnings and refund advertisers or viewers”, and payments can be delayed up to 90 days. After an AdSense suspension for invalid traffic there is a 30-day payment hold to calculate a possible final payment of the valid share.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 2802168 ; YouTube Help 1311392 ; YouTube Help 14340193"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "table": 7,
   "columns": [
    "#",
    "Claim (as commonly repeated)",
    "Verdict",
    "What is correct",
    "Source"
   ],
   "rows": [
    {
     "#": "30",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“The COPPA fine is $42,530 per video.”",
     "Verdict": "Outdated",
     "What is correct": "The maximum civil penalty applies per violation; it was $42,530 in 2019 and has been $53,088 since the January 17, 2025 inflation adjustment, unchanged for 2026 (FTC notice of September 15, 2026). It is imposed by the FTC or courts, not by YouTube.",
     "Source": "Federal Register, January 17, 2025; FTC, FR Doc 2026-18853 (September 15, 2026); FTC blog, November 22, 2019"
    },
    {
     "#": "31",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“YouTube paid $170 million to the FTC.”",
     "Verdict": "Misleading",
     "What is correct": "The 2019 settlement totalled $170 million: $136 million to the FTC and $34 million to New York (FTC press release of September 4, 2019; the Commission voted 3–2).",
     "Source": "FTC press release, September 4, 2019"
    },
    {
     "#": "32",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Made for kids started in January 2020.”",
     "Verdict": "Misleading",
     "What is correct": "The audience setting in Studio arrived in November 2019; from January 6, 2020, personalized ads, comments, live chat and notifications were switched off on made-for-kids content worldwide.",
     "Source": "YouTube blog, “Better protecting kids’ privacy on YouTube” ; FTC press release, September 4, 2019"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "table": 8,
   "columns": [
    "#",
    "Claim (as commonly repeated)",
    "Verdict",
    "What is correct",
    "Source"
   ],
   "rows": [
    {
     "#": "33",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“PragerU lost because of Section 230 .”",
     "Verdict": "Misleading",
     "What is correct": "The Ninth Circuit (February 26, 2020) held that YouTube is not a state actor and not a public forum; Section 230 was not decided there. Section 230 carried the California Court of Appeal decision of December 5, 2022.",
     "Source": "Prager University v. Google LLC, 951 F.3d 991 (9th Cir. 2020); 85 Cal.App.5th 1022 (2022); Court decisions reference table"
    },
    {
     "#": "34",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“The First Amendment protects you against YouTube.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "YouTube is a private company, not a state actor (Prager University v. Google, 9th Cir. 2020; Kennedy v. Google, 9th Cir. 2024). The First Amendment restricts the government.",
     "Source": "Prager University v. Google LLC (9th Cir. 2020); Kennedy v. Google, No. 23-3411 (9th Cir. 2024); Court decisions reference table"
    },
    {
     "#": "35",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Trump won $24.5 million in court against YouTube.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "It was a settlement of September 29, 2025 – $24.5 million, $22 million of it to the Trust for the National Mall – that “shall not constitute an admission of liability”. No court decided the case.",
     "Source": "Trump v. YouTube, 4:21-cv-08009 (N.D. Cal.); Court decisions reference table"
    },
    {
     "#": "36",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Moody v. NetChoice struck down (or upheld) the Texas and Florida laws.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "The Supreme Court “vacated … remanded” on July 1, 2024, describing content curation as protected editorial activity; it neither upheld nor struck down the laws.",
     "Source": "Moody v. NetChoice, 603 U.S. 707 (2024)"
    },
    {
     "#": "37",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“YouTube’s Terms have an arbitration clause or a class-action waiver.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "None of the six country versions we checked (US, UK, EEA/Switzerland, India, Canada, Australia) contains an arbitration clause or a class-action waiver. The US version chooses California law and the courts of Santa Clara County.",
     "Source": "YouTube Terms of Service, US version (December 15, 2023) ; YouTube Terms of Service : UK (March 17, 2025), IE/EEA/CH (October 6, 2023), IN and CA (January 5, 2022), AU (November 6, 2023)"
    },
    {
     "#": "38",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“You can sue YouTube anywhere” / “You can never sue YouTube.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "Both are wrong. US: exclusively the courts of Santa Clara County, California, where Section 230 and the Terms’ discretion have defeated every documented creator claim. UK and EEA: your local courts under your own law. Canada: Douez v. Facebook refused a forum clause only for a consumer, case by case.",
     "Source": "YouTube Terms of Service, US version (December 15, 2023) ; 47 U.S.C. § 230 (Cornell LII) ; Song Fi v. Google (D.D.C. 2014); Douez v. Facebook, 2017 SCC 33; Court decisions reference table"
    },
    {
     "#": "39",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“UK creators can use the DSA or Appeals Centre Europe.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "The Digital Services Act does not apply in the UK, and Appeals Centre Europe accepts only users residing in the EU; EEA/EFTA and UK users are excluded.",
     "Source": "Appeals Centre Europe FAQ ; Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (DSA)"
    },
    {
     "#": "40",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“The Online Safety Act gives UK creators a right to reinstatement.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "Section 72(1) only requires terms of service to point to the right to sue for breach of contract after a wrongful suspension (in force since January 10, 2024); the Category 1 duties in s.72(2)–(9) are not in force, and s.21 complaints cover only specific suspension grounds.",
     "Source": "Online Safety Act 2023, ss. 21 and 72 (legislation.gov.uk)"
    },
    {
     "#": "41",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“YouTube must give 30 days’ notice under the P2B Regulation.”",
     "Verdict": "Misleading",
     "What is correct": "Article 4 requires at least 30 days’ notice with a statement of reasons before terminating a business user – with exceptions for legal obligations, compelling reasons and repeated infringements – and whether creators are “business users” has never been tested in court.",
     "Source": "Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 (P2B), Article 4, retained in UK law"
    },
    {
     "#": "42",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“In India, platforms have 15 days” / “the GAC must decide within 30 days.”",
     "Verdict": "Outdated",
     "What is correct": "Since G.S.R. 120(E) of February 10, 2026 the Grievance Officer must dispose of complaints within 7 days (acknowledgement within 24 hours). The Grievance Appellate Committee “shall make an endeavour” to decide within 30 days – a target, not a hard deadline.",
     "Source": "IT Rules 2021, Rules 3 and 3A (MeitY, consolidated February 10, 2026); GAC portal"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "table": 9,
   "columns": [
    "#",
    "Claim (as commonly repeated)",
    "Verdict",
    "What is correct",
    "Source"
   ],
   "rows": [
    {
     "#": "43",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Hacked channels are always restored.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "YouTube promises no restoration. First the Google Account must be recovered, then a termination caused by the hack can be appealed; an incomplete account recovery can lead to a rejected appeal. Since about December 2025, support is limited to incidents within the past 9 months.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 76187"
    },
    {
     "#": "44",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Call Google support to recover your account.”",
     "Verdict": "False",
     "What is correct": "“You can't call Google for help to sign into your account.” Google works with no service that claims to provide account or password support; callers claiming to be Google are scammers.",
     "Source": "Google Account Help 7682439"
    },
    {
     "#": "45",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“Your data is gone forever after a termination.”",
     "Verdict": "Misleading",
     "What is correct": "You can no longer download your YouTube content, but you keep the ability to download your other Google data – unless the whole Google Account was disabled for certain violations without download access. EU users additionally have the right of access under Article 15 GDPR.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 2802168 ; Google Account Help 40695 ; YouTube Help 56100"
    },
    {
     "#": "46",
     "Claim (as commonly repeated)": "“The first paragraph of YouTube’s child safety (or hate speech, harassment …) policy page defines that policy.”",
     "Verdict": "Misleading",
     "What is correct": "As of October 9, 2026, several policy pages mistakenly begin with the introduction of the impersonation policy (“YouTube does not allow unauthorized impersonation…”) – a CMS error affecting child safety, nudity and sexual content, hate speech, harassment, violent or graphic content, suicide and self-harm, violent extremism and fake engagement. Quote the policy’s own sections, not the first paragraph.",
     "Source": "YouTube Help 2801999 ; YouTube Help 3399767"
    }
   ]
  }
 ]
}