The first video, featuring his pet dog, surpassed 300,000 views within 10 days. However, following a barrage of user reports, the channel was shut down by YouTube in about two weeks.
Regarding the closure, YouTube told the Hankook Ilbo, “The ‘Go! Young-wook’ channel was terminated in accordance with our Creator Responsibility guidelines, which prohibit behavior that harms the YouTube community, even if it occurs outside the platform. The uploader is no longer allowed to own or create any other YouTube channels.”
YouTube’s Creator Responsibility guidelines state, “If a creator’s conduct, on or off YouTube, harms our users, community, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community.”
Serious violations that cause significant harm to the community can lead to actions beyond standard enforcement, including the removal of monetization capabilities.
YouTube Korea previously applied these guidelines to suspend monetization for 스포츠 some “cyber wreckers,” YouTubers who profit from exposing negative issues, like Caracula (real name Lee Sae-wook) and Gujeyeok (Lee Jun-hee).
In response, Ko filed an appeal with Google, which operates YouTube, on Monday, contesting the channel deletion. YouTube will review the appeal to decide whether to restore the channel.
Ko also faced a similar issue in November 2020 when his Instagram account was shut down shortly after its creation. Instagram prohibits individuals convicted of sex crimes from owning accounts, citing concerns that such individuals could incite copycat crimes or attract new victims if they regain popularity on social media.
Ko was sentenced to two years and six months in prison in 2013 for sexually assaulting and molesting three minors and was released after serving his full term in 2015. He was also ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device for three years and to register as a sex offender for five years