The Real Reason Ludwig Just Got Banned On YouTube

If you work diligently to achieve a goal, it can be quite heartbreaking to see your hard work get crushed by a single confusing misstep. One of Twitch's most subbed streamers, Ludwig, recently had a long upload streak get interrupted to a ban on YouTube he couldn't even fathom.

The news came in the middle of one of his streams. Signaling his viewers to "hold up," nothing seemed too alarming at first. Soon enough, it became apparent something was wrong. He then announced that one of his reaction videos received a "community strike" from YouTube on the grounds of "child safety." He had no clue how this related to his content, but the real kicker came after a prolonged silence: he was prohibited from uploading for an entire week, which jeopardized his impressive upload streak.

What was the true reason behind the strike? As he pondered this riddle, the truth was brought to his attention — his video contained a clip where a baboon tossed its feces at some children. Immediately, he seemed to have sniffed out some hypocrisy on YouTube's part.

He pointed out that it didn't seem fair that he received disciplinary action for reacting to an already popular YouTube upload. Ludwig argued that the original version of the clip already had "10X [his] views, on YouTube," and so it didn't make much sense for the streaming service to target his video.

Ludwig posted about the incident on Twitter, explaining that he had been uploading new content to YouTube every day for 618 days until this video was flagged and removed. The hashtag "freeludwig" was trending soon after, demonstrating how much his community supports him.

Fans appeared to be just as upset by this news as he was when he received the email. One person volunteered their channel for Ludwig's use during his week-long probation, just so he could keep his streak running. Some fans threatened to outright boycott YouTube until the situation was resolved. Another user joked, "Ok, that's the last straw, I'm officially no longer a fan of @YouTube , I will be taking my talents to @WatchMixer where they know how to treat creators," referring to the now-defunct Mixer platform.

It very well may have been the support from his fans that saved his streak. The TeamYouTube Twitter account responded that Ludwig's "video has been reinstated with age restriction." His uploading privileges were also restored, meaning his streak can continue. How long will Ludwig go with his YouTube streak now? It could be a long time, as long as he isn't slapped with another confusing strike.