Go Young Wook, who served time in prison for sexually assaulting minors, has been permanently banned from YouTube.
On August 26 KST, YouTube stated, “In accordance with our Creator Responsibility Guidelines, which prohibit creators whose off-platform behavior harms the YouTube community, we have terminated the ‘Go! Young Wook’ channel.”
Go Young Wook had announced the launch of his YouTube channel on August 5, saying, “I’ve lived a shameful life. Feeling helpless and aging poorly at home, I decided to start YouTube in a desperate attempt to break away from my lethargic routine.”
Despite a wave of public outrage, Go Young Wook’s video featuring his pet dog ironically garnered over 300,000 views within two weeks, leading him to upload more content.
However, just 18 days after its creation, YouTube deleted the channel.
Go Young Wook expressed his frustration, stating, “It seems my YouTube channel was shut down overnight. I didn’t post harmful content, yet I’m being targeted simply because I have a criminal record. I’ve served my sentence, so why are some allowed and others not? Is this really fair?”
YouTube’s Community Guidelines clearly state that they can take action to protect the community if a creator’s actions, both on and off the platform, are deemed harmful to the YouTube ecosystem.
This decision reflects YouTube’s judgment that Go Young Wook’s actions, including his conviction for sexually assaulting three minors on four occasions between July 2010 and December 2012, for which he served 2 years and 6 months in prison, are harmful.
Netizens largely supported YouTube’s decision, with comments such as
“Harmful creators produce harmful content,”
“A sexual offender who took away others’ rights has no rights themselves,”
“Victims, especially minors, could be re-traumatized by seeing Go Young Wook on YouTube.”
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