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YouTube Tightens Rules on Digital-Goods Gambling and Graphic Game Violence, Effective Nov. 17

Set to take effect November 17, the policy prioritizes youth safety by curbing gambling promotions tied to tradable in‑game items, with stricter 18+ limits for a small set of realistic violent scenes.

Overview

  • Enforcement begins November 17 following YouTube’s October 28 announcement of Community Guidelines updates.
  • Creators may not direct viewers to online gambling that uses digital goods with monetary value—such as skins, cosmetics, or NFTs—except for sites certified by Google.
  • Videos depicting or promoting social casino games will be age-restricted even when no real money is exchanged.
  • A narrow slice of game footage featuring realistic human characters in torture or mass violence against non‑combatants will be age-restricted based on scene length, focus, and realism.
  • Pre‑November 17 uploads that violate the new rules may be removed or age‑restricted without strikes, with notifications, editing tools, and appeal rights, and YouTube says it expects minimal channel impact; coverage notes potential effects for Counter‑Strike 2 skin‑gambling content and possibly some GTA 6 videos.