How to Report a YouTube User for Harassment or Hate Speech

Every minute of every day, YouTube users upload 48 hours' worth of videos to the site, according to a May 2011 SearchEngineWatch.com article. YouTube has established lengthy and detailed guidelines regarding what is and is not acceptable to upload to its servers, and the vast majority of users follow those guidelines correctly. Unfortunately, there are people who ignore these guidelines and rules -- known as YouTube's terms of service - and upload videos for the purpose of harassing other users or proliferating hateful messages, which YouTube categorizes as hate speech. You can report individual videos as inappropriate by clicking the small flag icon in the row of buttons beneath each video, but if a user has been harassing someone or posting hate speech, either as videos, in comments or in private messages, you can report the user directly to YouTube by using its Safety and Help Tool.

Log in to your YouTube account by clicking the "Sign In" link in the upper-right corner of the homepage and entering your username and password. YouTube requires that you sign in to use the Help & Safety Tool, though it won't notify the reported user that you made the report.

Visit the YouTube Safety and Help page to begin the report. This page is located at youtube.com/safety_help.

Select the type of report you're making. Click the radio button next to either "Harassment" or "Hate Speech," depending on what you're reporting the channel for. YouTube has detailed community guidelines describing what it views as hateful content and harassment which you can find at youtube.com/t/community_guidelines. YouTube also has a helpful and comprehensive FAQ page about harassment and cyberbullying which details the steps you can take to protect yourself and your friends and family against online bullying and harassment.

Select the radio button next to the person for whom you're making the report - but only if the report is for harassment. You can make a report on your own behalf, or on the behalf of a minor child, friend, co-worker or other person, as well as on behalf of general activity on the site, such as widespread trolling. If you clicked "Hate Speech" as the type of report you're making, the rest of the form grays out. YouTube will allow you to report hate speech, even if the hate is not directed at you or a group to which you belong.

Click the "Continue" button in the lower right corner. How the form proceeds from here depends on the combination of the reason for the report and the person on whose behalf you're making the report. For example, YouTube allows you to report a channel for harassment against yourself or a minor child for whom you are a parent or guardian, but generally it won't allow you to make a report on behalf of another adult.

The types of resources YouTube makes available also depends on the combination of report reason and the person on whose behalf you're making the report. Harassment against minors has links to Internet safety and anti-cyberbullying resources for children; copyright infringement reports lead to links and resources about YouTube's copyright policies.

Fill out the rest of the form with the particular details of your report.

Click the "Continue" button in the lower right corner once more. The page redirects to a form prompting you to identify the user who has violated the terms of service.

Type the channel name or username in the username field, then click "Continue" when you've typed the name into the appropriate field.

Select the category of your report. Some categories have sub-categories in the form; select a sub-category if your reason for making the report has them. Click "Continue" when you're done.

Click the tab on the left column that best describes the location of the harassment or hate speech. YouTube allows you to report activities on videos, video comments, channel comments or video responses. If the user you're reporting has violated the terms of service in more than one location on the site. pick the one in which you think the user's worst behavior occurred.

Add relevant details to your report. Depending on the tab you clicked for the location of the harassment, YouTube prompts you to either use its search tool to automatically locate offending channel comments, video responses and video comments made by the channel's owner.

The search form automatically populates the user's content, such as videos, comments and video responses, in a column in the middle of the page. Check the boxes next to the offending comments or videos and click "Continue."

Block the user from your own videos and inbox by clicking the "Continue" button on the next page. If you don't wish to block the user, uncheck the box before clicking "Continue." Blocking a YouTube user prevents him or her from leaving comments on your videos or sending you unwanted private messages to your YouTube inbox.

Type any additional details about the report against the user or channel in the comment box. YouTube limits your comment to up to 300 characters, so be concise. Describe the exact nature of the violation, including direct links, if possible.

Click "Continue" to submit your report to YouTube. You'll receive a confirmation email that YouTube has received your report and is looking into the matter. Unfortunately, due to privacy reasons, YouTube may not send you the result of the investigation, but you can rest easy knowing you've done your part to keep the community safe and fun.

Helpful Links:

http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2073962/New-YouTube-Statistics-48-Hours-of-Video-Uploaded-Per-Minute-3-Billion-Views-Per-Day

http://www.youtube.com/safety_help

http://youtube.com/t/community_guidelines

http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=56113

http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=126266