YouTubers Are Under Attack, Loopholes EXPOSED in TOS

Welp, it happened again.

Just a mere week or so after Ryan Roger Athay was deplatformed from YouTube, and a couple months after ToastyWithTheMosty69 was demonetized, do we now have another creator under attack by a woke hate mob of leftist basement dwelling incels, likely led by none other than Alysa Mercante. The failed cam-girl-turned Kotaku "journalist", and extremely polarizing figure leading the charge of attacks against gamers, while peddling misinformation, half-truths, and enough lies by omission over the years to make your head spin.

Oh and the cherry on top? This creature has an active and ongoing lawsuit against me because I dared call her out for the bullshit rhetoric she continues to spew.

This time, @GriftGod_, aka Atraes, who’s now been demonetized by YouTube. His crime? Daring to offer commentary, criticism, and analysis on topics that ruffle feathers... particularly those involving media figures in the game industry, including... Alyssa Mercante.

The demonetization came in swift, all at once, without warning. No strikes leading up. No direct explanation beyond vague community guideline violations, all tied to videos that mentioned Mercante by name.

It’s a pretty obvious pattern that’s becoming hard to ignore.

First Toasty with the Mosty demonetized, then Ryan Roger Athay was completely deplatformed off of YouTube, banished to the Realm of Rumble. Polished Productions also claims to have had a video pulled, and now... Atraes has lost monetization entirely. It doesn’t take a conspiracy theorist to notice that the common thread in many of these cases is criticism of Alyssa Mercante. I mean, she's even admitted to being a serial account reporter to anyone who she deems as 'harassing'...

Let’s be clear: there's no smoking gun proving Mercante is personally behind these takedowns. But she has stated many times in the past that she is pro censorship and hides behind 'harassment' as a way to shut people down. Check the 30 minute mark of her Taylor Lorenz video for her admitting that she wants more people to report for her. The timing is sus af too, and she's publicly expressed support for reporting channels she disagrees with. She’s gone on record saying she supports censorship, flagging, and deplatforming. So while we can’t say with certainty she’s pulling the strings, the circumstantial evidence is pretty obvious. Below are 3 images that Atraes shared with me regarding the 'specific' offenses.

Adding to the absurdity, the strikes against his videos point to supposed “unwanted sexualization,” a vague and extremely subjective term that YouTube seems to allow certain users to exploit. All three videos that triggered the demonetization happened to drop at the exact same time - 6:57 PM, clearly indicating a coordinated flagging campaign. That’s not moderation; that’s more like weaponized mass reporting.

And what was in these videos? Light-hearted jabs. Roasts. Reactions to public figures. Nothing illegal at all. Nothing inciting violence. Just standard commentary, on public individuals who themselves use public platforms to share their views. None of this violates Terms of Service at all...

The emails reference that very subjective catch all phrase of

"Content that contains unwanted sexualization isn't allowed on YouTube."

The issue isn’t just that YouTube is taking these videos down. It’s that there is no accountability. No real actual appeals process at all. Rejections come swiftly, often within hours, suggesting that no real human even looked at the content... and everything is subjective. This is the loophole that certain folks have found to exploit the system and destroy livelihoods of content creators. Video make you feel uncomfortable? Apparently you can just tell YouTube to take it down, and they will. The appeals process is a joke. The punishment? Ninety days without monetization. That’s a death sentence for a creator trying to build momentum.

Meanwhile, larger creators who toe the corporate line stay untouched. Logan Paul is still on the platform. So are countless others who’ve done far worse than critique a journalist’s tweets. What’s clear is this: enforcement is not being applied evenly. It’s being used as a tool and one to punish dissent, to silence critics, and to wear creators down until they give up.

This isn’t just about Atraes. It’s about a growing list of creators being picked off one by one: Toasty, Ryan Roger Athay, Polish Productions, and possibly more. Their crime? Speaking uncomfortable truths. Criticizing media elites. Doing the very thing commentary creators have always done, shining a light on the hypocrisy of those in power. There's nothing sexual or overt. If anything, when it does come to sexual things, its covering the news repeating the same damn things that Alyssa herself has said!

We’re watching censorship unfold in real time. Not through overt bans, but through quiet demonetizations, automated takedowns, and mass reporting campaigns enabled by vague policies and a lack of transparency.

If YouTube wants to be the platform for expression it claims to be, it must stop this. It must fix its broken reporting system. It must stop punishing creators for daring to question mainstream narratives. And it must ensure that everyone... regardless of size, race, or popularity, is treated fairly. Hopefully this message gets picked up by even bigger channels out there, to shine the light even brighter on a massive tumor in the game space wreaking havoc on free speech.

Atraes may be down, but he’s not out. He’s still posting. Still roasting. Still standing. But how long can creators hold out against a system that seems rigged against them?

This is a fight for the future of online commentary... And right now it sure feels like the censors are winning.

~Smash