Former KISS FM host Andrew Kibe has shared the story of how he incurred significant financial losses following the termination of his YouTube channel.
In September of the previous year, the controversial content creator lost access to his YouTube channel, which boasted a substantial following of nearly 500,000 subscribers.
Google, the parent company of YouTube, asserted that Kibe had deceived the video-sharing platform by uploading videos through a secondary channel after facing restrictions on his primary account due to a violation of YouTube’s terms of service.
Dorothy Ooko, Head of Communications at Google Africa, explained the situation, stating, “Kibe violated YouTube’s Terms of Service. While he was restricted from using YouTube features, including uploading videos on his channel, he used another channel to get around these restrictions, aka circumvention, resulting in termination of all his channels.”
In response, Kibe contended that the termination of his YouTube channel was a deliberate act, claiming that he had adhered to Google’s rules. According to him, the action was not triggered by any particular statement he made, but rather a targeted attack orchestrated by a powerful individual or entity.
During an appearance on the Iko Nini Podcast, Kibe expressed his disbelief, stating, “It wasn’t because I said something; it was because it was a targeted attack. It was somebody so powerful. I only had one copyright strike that was expiring in like a week.”
Kibe raised questions about the suspension of all his channels, emphasizing that he had not committed any wrongdoing. Despite having over 3,000 videos on YouTube, he had only received one copyright strike when his channel was taken down.
“They did not just pull down one channel; they pulled down all my channels, the ones that were monetized and un-monetized,” Kibe lamented.
The suspension dealt a severe blow to Kibe, who was reportedly one of the highest-paid Kenyan YouTubers at the time. Prior to the suspension, he was said to be earning approximately Sh1.6 million monthly from the platform.
