Black boxes didn't save him: YouTuber with 10 years and 3,000 videos permanently banned over censored 'Hellraiser: Revival' gameplay

A decade of work wiped out over a single video. French YouTuber J0nathan, with around 190,000 subscribers and more than 3,000 uploads, had his channel terminated by YouTube after posting gameplay of horror game 'Hellraiser: Revival'. He covered the nude scenes with black boxes and marked the content as 'not made for kids', but did not apply an age restriction.

According to Dexerto, the platform first removed the video and issued a nudity strike. A few days later, it terminated the entire channel, citing 'severe or repeated violations of our sex and nudity policy'. His first appeal was denied within minutes, on the grounds that 'explicit content that's meant to be sexually gratifying isn't allowed on YouTube'. 'Everything seems to be handled by AI,' the creator complained, noting that uncensored footage of the same scene remains online on other channels.

The ban cut off his main source of income. On Oct. 8, J0nathan requested a final review and said he may appeal under the European Union's Digital Services Act and even take legal action. He also called on Saber Interactive, the game's publisher, whose creator policy says it is not responsible for strikes. At the time of reporting, neither YouTube nor Saber had responded.