YouTube Bans Popular Indian Channel for Making Misleading AI-Generated Movie Trailers

YouTube has banned two channels on its platform for posting misleading artificial intelligence (AI)-generated videos. One of these channels, Screen Culture, was based in India, while the other, KH Studio, was based in Georgia. As per a report, both of these channels posted fake movie trailers to get views, and the streaming giant had already suspended ads for violating its policies around misleading and deceptive content, as well as synthetic content disclosure. This time, it is said, the channels have been permanently banned.

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First spotted by Deadline, both channels have now been banned. Gadgets 360 staff members also confirmed that these channels do not surface when searching on YouTube. Additionally, the channel URL now redirects to a blank page that says, “This page isn't available. Sorry about that.”

The channels reportedly had more than two million subscribers combined and over a billion views. It is said that both channels posted official footage with AI-generated images to create fake movie trailers to farm views. Deadline stated that YouTube had suspended ads on these channels earlier this year, after its investigation revealed the policy violations.

Notably, YouTube has a strict content policy around misleading and deceptive content where creators use clickbait or false thumbnails, titles, or video footage to fool viewers. Additionally, the company requires “creators to disclose meaningfully altered or synthetically generated content that seems realistic.”

In a statement, YouTube spokesperson Jack Malon told The Verge, “After their initial suspension, these channels made the necessary corrections in order to be readmitted into the YouTube Partner Program. However, once monetising again, they reverted to clear violations of our spam and misleading metadata policies, and as a result, they have been terminated from the platform.”

Deadline reported that after YouTube's ad suspension, the channels started adding “fan trailer” and “parody” to their video titles, and monetisation was restored. However, in the following months, these words disappeared, resulting in the ban due to repeat offense.

Screen Culture founder Nikhil P. Chaudhari told the publication that he hired more than 10 editors to create these AI-generated fake videos. His strategy to dupe YouTube's algorithm reportedly included posting these trailers early and frequently iterating with videos.