Because a message above in the thread warned YouTube users that there were “longer than normal wait times” for support requests, YouTube continually asked for “patience” and disabled comments.
“We are deeply sorry for this error on our part,” YouTube said.
Unable to leave comments, thousands of users pressed a button in the support thread, confirming they had the “same question.” By Friday morning, 8,000 users had registered their desperation, and at the time of writing that number had risen to almost 11,000.
YouTube hasn't confirmed how many users were removed, so that's probably the best estimate we have for how many users were affected.
On Friday afternoon, YouTube updated the thread and confirmed that “all channels wrongly removed due to spam and deceptive practices have been fully reinstated!”
While YouTube claims all channels are back online, not all accidentally deleted videos have been restored, YouTube said. While most of the affected users were reportedly not creators and therefore unlikely to have their livelihoods disrupted by the bug, at least one commenter complained, “My two most viewed videos have been removed,” indicating that some account holders highly disliked the videos. to appreciate. are still missing from their accounts.
“We're working to restore the last few videos, thanks for your patience!” YouTube's update said. “We know this has been a frustrating experience, we greatly appreciate your patience as we resolve this.”
It is unclear whether paid subscribers will be compensated for lost access to content.
YouTube did not respond to Ars' request for comment.
