YouTube has loosened its rules regarding content moderation, instructing its moderators to prioritize “freedom of expression” over perceived risks of harm in assessing what to take down for the popular video platform. Although the move hasn’t been widely publicized, it was gleaned through leaks of moderator training material that made its way to the media. YouTube becomes the latest in a string of social platforms that have relaxed content moderation standards. Unlike Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook and Instagram owner Meta, YouTube and its parent Google have refrained from public comment on the move.

The New York Times calls YouTube “the latest social media platform to back off efforts to police online speech in the wake of Republican pressure to stop moderating content,” noting Meta Platforms’ January move to end fact-checking on its socials and Musk’s decision to turn content moderation over to users on X shortly after he purchased the platform in 2022.

Following years of YouTube’s proactive removal of “videos with derogatory slurs, misinformation about COVID vaccines and election falsehoods,” the platform is now encouraging content moderators “to leave up videos with content that may break the platform’s rules rather than remove them, as long as the videos are considered to be in the public interest,” including “discussions of political, social and cultural issues,” NYT writes.

“Previously, YouTube would keep up videos it considered in the public interest if only a quarter of its content was considered in violation of its rules; now, half of a video’s content can still break the rules and remain up,” reports Mashable, indicating the change was made “in mid-December.”

When pressed on the matter, “YouTube representatives stated that moderators removed 192,856 videos in the first quarter of 2025,” a 22 percent year-over-year increase, according to Mashable, which says concerned viewers are being directed to the platform’s Community Guidelines Transparency Report for “details and clarity on the policy change.”

YouTube explains “the move expands on a change made before the 2024 U.S. election, which allows content from political candidates to stay up even if they violate its community guidelines under its exception for educational, documentary, scientific, and artistic content,” its so-called EDSA exception, per The Verge.

A YouTube spokesperson told The Verge that the EDSA exceptions “apply to a small fraction” of videos on the platform, adding that “we regularly update our Community Guidelines to adapt to the content we see on YouTube.”