This Video Got Me Permanently Banned On YouTube (Yes, I'm Serious)

⚠️PLEASE READ THE DESCRIPTION FOR CONTEXT ABOUT THE VIDEO AND THE BAN I RECIEVED FROM YOUTUBE!⚠️ (Thank you!) 🤍

Original Title: Emotionless Counter Strike | Song: No Emotion by LazyGod

Video Created (Final Cut): March 24, 2023 (Either uploaded on the same day or the next day, not 100%, but I have confirmation on Premiering the video at 6 PM PST!)

Okay, let me try to briefly explain to everyone why this video uploaded on YouTube got me permanently banned off the platform based on a completely false and extreme case of a policy violation, which also led to my @Xendiam Account getting banned off the platform as well.

-CONTEXT-

The video shown above is a Frag Montage showcasing clips I found worthy of showcasing my skills within the video game 'Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'. That's it. Yes. Throughout the whole video, it displays gameplay footage of Counter-Strike as well as other visuals that I try to illustrate through the song's lyrics. This includes media from other Video Games, Music Videos made by Rappers, a tiny amount of TV Show footage, etc. There is 1 section of the video that could have accidentally triggered YouTube's awful Moderation System and that's where the source of the ban could have likely came from. Let's discuss.

Around the 1 minute and 10 second mark of the video, there is a line where he boasts about his status of being a boss or tough like figure and mentions that he's been like that since the year 1999. For the duration of approximately 22 seconds in total, I used footage that captures the culture and time era of the 90's, specifically 1999 and I chose real life events with a mixture of gaming and other entertainment to show what it was like living in the year 1999. There is 1 thing that was included that, at the time, was oblivious to me and when I received the ban on February 3 of this year, I was confused, heartbroken, and furious. But I know the mistake I made. For 2 seconds, I stupidly edited in a short clip of the 1999 School Shooting Tragedy of Columbine High School and let me be clear: I DO NOT SUPPORT, AID, ENCOURAGE, NOR INTENDED TO GLORIFY A HORRIBLE TRAGEDY THAT ULTIMATELY TOOK LIVES OF INNOCENT PEOPLE. MY HEART AND CONDOLENCES GO OUT TO EACH AND EVERY ONE THAT HAS BEEN AFFECTED BY SCHOOL SHOOTINGS AND ANY OTHER TRAUMATIC AND SERIOUS SITUATIONS WHERE INNOCENT SOULS ARE HURT, IN CRITICAL CONDITION, AND LOST DUE TO BAD PEOPLE ON THIS EARTH!!!

With that being said, I learned now that adding a real-life tragedy poorly placed into an FPS montage is by far the worst thing I have ever done without thinking twice about the interpretation and results coming from it. At that time, I did not think of such a thing and my consequences finally came through. Even though no one shown in that specific moment was hurt/dead (as far as we know of), I do agree that showing heavy media that is insensitive to others, regardless of the duration and parts shown, is unacceptable and that is why I will NOT be including those things into my content anymore when making EDITS and I have been constructing and brainstorming on making videos where my videos only have video game footage and nothing else, just to focus on playing and showcasing video games and not have to deal with situations like this and to avoid any possible copyright issues or any other guideline/policy conflictions. I also want to note that NO OTHER PREVIOUS VIDEO UPLOADED had any controversial or sensitive footage, so no, my YouTube history has always been within the guidelines and I have not received any warnings and strikes on my channel in my lifetime. I've had videos where they are not monetizable and were unable to be shown both domestically and internationally (with various restrictions), but to my recollection, no big issues were placed. What I DON'T understand is why the permanent ban happened NOW instead of 2 years ago.

This is where it starts to get fishy. The video was uploaded back in 2023 and after so many months of it being published on YouTube, the video has been in good standing and respected the rules and guidelines up until now. No warning before or after the video has been notified to me both through YouTube's website or through my email and I have received a permanent life time ban from using and accessing my "Akuma" YouTube Page. To make matters even WORSE, because I used an email associated with the "Xendiam" YouTube Channel as my RECOVERY EMAIL for the "Akuma" one, that channel got terminated for life as well! Yup, that's right; Two YouTube Channels got removed from the platform within 24 hours. This one video, the video you watched in full or just skimmed through quickly, got me banned from that website. I really find this situation very unprofessional, unfair, and poorly misinterpreted as well as misunderstood. I have sent both of my appeals for each of the channels and they said that their reason for the ban was seen as justified and could NOT be appealed or resolved no further. The ban in question? - "Violent criminal organizations" for the "Akuma" Channel and breaking "Community Guidelines" for the "Xendiam" one. I have read over the entire policy descriptions for both of the claims issued and completely disagree that this video had violated their policies. The ONLY examples that I can think of that could have flagged this video for breaking the policy was #1, #5, and #7.

1) "Raw and unmodified reuploads of content created by terrorist, criminal, or extremist organizations" - This reason is a bit of a stretch just because the footage was NOT created by any of the two shooters themselves but rather raw footage captured by the High School that had access to record film inside the Cafeteria. The distribution of footage shown was archived evidence of what happened at the scene during the awful attack but we can only make out the two shooters and no one else, that we know of based on that 2 second interval. So in my opinion, this example doesn't make sense for me to get the ban. I would also like to say that I downloaded that same exact video from YOUTUBE, and it was much longer in length exposing the entirety of what happened in that specific moment. As in writing this very long description, the original source of the video is STILL UP ON YOUTUBE! Type "Columbine Cafeteria Footage Colorized 1999" into the search bar and you should see the video still uploaded onto their platform back in 2022. The user that uploaded the video is named "The Atomic News". The fact that the original is still up without being taken down is UPSURD and I am still confused why I got the permanent ban for using only 2 seconds of it. The person behind that channel should've been taken down too or at the very least, gave us an option to take it down or do something to alter it to their liking but here we are.

5) "Footage filmed by the perpetrator during a deadly or major violent event, in which weapons, violence, or injured victims are visible or audible" - This one seems more plausible because not only is the footage of the tragedy present and very disturbing, but there is also indeed fact of WEAPONS shown in the video. The small 2 second clip is already bad to have in here to begin with just because it's a national tragedy and they do show firearms used to incite the massacre but the fact that YouTube didn't just take down the video or at least told me to remove it or do something to alter the footage within the video still leaves me clueless as to why they think that a gamer that records and makes videos from online gaming has some sort of fucked up agenda that CLEARLY doesn't represent itself from the video above. Like I said, no warning or statement was sent to me from YouTube and they just ultimately taken down the entire channel as well as the other one. Mind you, this footage was only shown for 2 seconds and they didn't flag it during the time that it was initially uploaded. Something just isn't right with that logic.

Lastly,

7) "Video game content which has been developed or modified ("modded") to glorify a violent event, its perpetrators, or support violent criminal or terrorist organizations" - This reason can only be possible IF and ONLY IF I was using my CS:GO clips to promote, support, or glorify this terrible event which is obviously not the case. Again, this video is a montage showcasing moments of when I hit good shots and clips in that game and simply edited them in together with additional footage from different sources to make the video more eye catching with the song I selected to help enhance the video experience. Other than that, this example can NOT be used against me since I did NOT use that game to reenact the shooting or help advertise the tragedy to inspire others to help act out these horrible things. I feel like YouTube used both this reason and the previous one mentioned above to help them issue out the ban but again, I would have liked to work with them and solve this serious claim towards me if they simply had reached out, but they decided to terminate me off YouTube instead.

Before I conclude this very long explanation towards the possible reasons I got banned off YouTube, there is one more idea I had in mind that I would like to express that also could have gotten my channel taken down. I won't be saying names as to who did it because my personal life does not involve with them being my "friend" anymore (Thank God LOL) and that there COULD be a POSSIBILITY that the same individual could have orchestrated a false flag towards the video and/or the channel. I am not 100% as YouTube never gave me specific details as to what actually got me banned but if I were to theorize another problem, I feel like this would be possible just due to our fallout between each other. It was over an exaggeration and misunderstanding that happened within a video game and that led us to not be friends anymore and move on with our separate ways. I wouldn't be surprised though if this person never got over our little "argument" we had with each other and decided to take one final jab at me for some odd reason. But why now if we hadn't spoken to each other in years and I have them blocked everywhere on the internet from both my "Akuma" and "Xendiam" Profiles (Not sure if they did the same thing on their part but who knows and I DON'T CARE!). And let's say they didn't report me at all, WHY WOULD YOUTUBE JUST OUT OF THE BLUE STILL BAN ME FROM A VIDEO I UPLOADED BACK IN 2023 AND GET PUNISHED FOR LITERALLY NOTHING IN 2025? It doesn't seem logical nor ethical to remove me off the platform for something I didn't do in the 1st place.

Later this week, I will be attempting to contact a REAL YouTube Representative to see if I can sort this thing out one last time. I really wish this YouTube ban didn't happen but here we are. With no further explanation or help from YouTube Support, I'm left empty handed with a false ban over my head now. But it's okay, I know Rumble and their staff will understand my situation better than those mindless robots they have over on YouTube and will continue to allow me to have a voice over here on Rumble. All I ever wanted to do was just create and share gaming content for everyone to see and to have fun with it. So, I am honored and privileged to have a platform that can allow free speech and any other content that can be seen as out of the norm and too risqué based on the material they approve into their website. If you read my entire description dialogue about the context of the situation I'm in right now, thank you so much. You have no idea how grateful I am to have you use your spared time to hear my side of the story on this shitty scenario and hopefully I delivered clarity and proper reasoning to help my case on the ban at hand for it is really stupid and ridiculous to have happened in the 1st place.

I can't wait to share more content with you all. Until next time, have a good rest of your day. Take care.

- Xendiam