CDTFA Has Been Officially Kicked Off YouTube For Severe Policy Violations!
In a somewhat unexpected twist of fate, California's Department of Tax and Fee Administration official YouTube channel has been terminated by YouTube.
The CDTFA YouTube account had been a YouTube partner for quite a few years. I (Randy Dreammaker of SellerThink) had come across it earlier this year when I decided to see if they had any tax updates related to the Wayfair v.s. North Dakota decision and how it might impact eBay sellers in California.
The CDTFA channel had a plethora of videos on it, dealing with all kinds of topics. I had added them to the list of recommended channels that appeared on the SellerThink channel via desktop YouTube viewers.
Currently, because the suspension just occured, videos thumbnails and video titles are still viewable in Bing search; clicking on a video takes you to a terminated video notification page. I've been observing a lot of channels and videos being suspended, terminated or removed this summer by YouTube, but seeing a government agency kicked off is not only unusual but also a reminder that just because the government has power over the little people, our money and laws, that private companies like Google and YouTube are not required to allow them to runamuck on their private platform.
With all the crack downs, demonetized videos, and other issues those of use who host videos on YouTube have experienced in the past few years, thanks to Paul Logan, Pewdie Pie and other top YouTubers; I actually find some comfort in knowing that YouTube isn't afraid of the state, when it comes to enforcing it's policy. Makes me feel like the CDTFA was held accountable just like SellerThink and other channels who have had to work within YouTube's partnership rules.
What may be more interesting and revealing, is that I have never seen this exact warning on a terminated account before, and I am wondering if YouTube's policy enforcement team actually wrote it out manually, since it was a government account being kicked off the platform. You really got to screw up a lot to get kicked off of YouTube. I mean the CDTFA has gained Alex Jones status now, when it comes to YouTube.
Here is the actual wording of the notification that now appears on the California Department of Tax and Fee Administrations YouTube Channel, "This account has been terminated due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube's policy against spam, deceptive practices, and misleading content or other Terms of Service violations."
It's wild! It's like the CDTFA is a total rogue bad-ass!
The CDTFA website and even customer support has been a real mess every since California decided to separate it from BOE (Board of Equalization).
This is a real shame, because many of the videos were only available on YouTube. Some of them discussed very relevant topics that are extremely difficult to find in written form on the website. Had I had any foresight that this would happen, I'd have considered downloading videos that were important for online sellers and sole proprietors to make sure they survived and were able to remain on the YouTube platform.
The CDTFA YouTube channel is fully integrated into the CDTFA website for it's video Tutorials in both English and Spanish. What an embarrassment to be a business of any kind viewing the documents and then going to their Tutorials only to find that all the videos point to a YouTube notification that they got kicked off for breaking the rules.
Seriously, the CDTFA is allow about rules, they do not cut anyone any slack, but they can't even follow the simple rules that everyone who posts a video on YouTube has to follow every single day.
