Introduction
I submitted a formal complaint to the YouTube Help Community regarding my account being restricted from watching public videos, despite fully accepting my old channel ban. Instead of a meaningful review, my thread was falsely marked as a “duplicate” of a completely unrelated technical FAQ about video buffering. Below is the full story with all relevant links.
Section 1: The original complaint (verbatim)
Original thread:
https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/458331930?hl=en&sjid=13094614403276306498-EU
Headline:
YouTube blocks video access in violation of basic human rights
Body:
Dear Google and YouTube Team,
My name is Şerif. Years ago, my main Google account was banned from YouTube due to a policy violation. I fully accept this restriction on my old YouTube account and I am not requesting its reinstatement. However, this restriction has also prevented me from watching publicly available YouTube videos for years.
This includes videos embedded in websites and videos accessed through Google services. Blocking access to publicly available information in this way creates an unnecessary barrier to knowledge and violates the basic human right to access information.
“Article 19: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
I want to clarify that I do not wish to create a YouTube channel or account. My request is solely about restoring my ability to watch publicly available YouTube videos without needing to rely on alternative browsers or workarounds. Furthermore, requiring users to log out just to view public content is completely impractical. This Google account is actively used for Single Sign-On (SSO) across numerous third-party sites and daily services, so constantly logging in and out disrupts essential daily workflows.
I respectfully ask that you review this situation and confirm whether the restriction on my old YouTube account can be separated from my ability to access publicly available YouTube content.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Şerif Çiçekdağ
Section 2: YouTube’s misleading “duplicate” response
After posting the complaint above, I received an email from the YouTube Community Team stating my question had been marked as a duplicate of another existing thread.
The thread they referenced:
https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/677062
Title: “FAQ: My video keeps freezing or not loading”
This is a technical FAQ about browser cache, internet speed, and video buffering. It has absolutely no connection to my complaint about account-based viewing restrictions, human rights, or the right to access public information.
To be clear: my original request was never about reopening my banned channel. That was a separate issue, already settled and accepted. My request was strictly about restoring the ability to watch public videos while remaining logged into my Google account for daily SSO use.
Flagging a serious, rights-based complaint as a duplicate of an unrelated technical FAQ is a flawed and dismissive moderation practice. It locks the thread, hides it from active visibility, offers no meaningful appeal path, and leaves the core problem completely unresolved.
Thanks.
