YouTube suppresses hunting video: Popular YouTuber Cameron Hanes was recently censored by YouTube. A recent video that he uploaded to his channel titled "San Carlos Elk Dreams at Dusk: ep 4: A Month in the Mountains" was age-restricted by YouTube, with a notice for adults logged into an age-verified account still receiving a message that read "This video may be inappropriate for some users." Those user wishing to view the video anyway must then click a button that reads "I understand and wish to proceed." The video depicts elk hunting with the use of bows, as well as field dressing of the animal. YouTube's guidelines claim to exempt standard hunting from its typical policies against violent content or animal abuse, but the platform has been censoring hunting and fishing channels for years.

Although possibly well-meaning at times, age-restrictions severely limit a video’s reach. Documentarian and CEO of Good Kid Productions Rob Montz explained this concern in an op-ed for The Daily Wire after YouTube age-restricted one of his videos last December. “In practice, age restriction is a death knell: The video can’t be embedded on external websites; viewers have to sign in before they can watch it; and it receives scant – if any – boost from YouTube’s recommendation algorithm, which is a crucial source of views,” Montz said.