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YouTube has confirmed a crackdown on YouTube Premium subscribers who used VPNs to purchase the ad-free subscription. The video-sharing platform is essentially enforcing its policies strictly.

Has YouTube admitted it has started canceling subscriptions?

YouTube has officially admitted that it has initiated a crackdown on subscribers who use VPNs to hide their location. The action is targeted at YouTube Premium subscribers who use a VPN to purchase a subscription.

YouTube hasn’t categorically admitted it has started canceling any subscriptions. However, the company confirmed to TechCrunch it has systems in place to confirm a subscriber’s true country.

Buy a Nord VPN subscription, change your location to Ukraine.

Load the YouTube premium purchase page up using a browser like Brave, or in incognito mode.
Purchase the premium subscription for only $2 a month.

Cancel the Nord VPN subscription. Profit. https://t.co/Q6mVBwcO66

— Nathan (@NathanIngraham) October 12, 2023

Specifically speaking, YouTube “can detect when a subscriber is lying about their signup country and the system will prompt the user to update their billing information.” Speaking about enforcing the company’s policies, a YouTube spokesperson said,

“To provide the most accurate plans and offers available, we have systems in place to determine the country of our users. In instances where the signup country does not match where the user is accessing YouTube, we’re asking members to update their billing information to their current country of residence.”

Has YouTube initiated a crackdown on Premium subscribers using VPNs?

We recently reported that YouTube may have started canceling premium subscriptions for users who paid using VPNs. It appears multiple YouTube Premium subscribers had their subscriptions abruptly canceled.

YouTube Cancelling Premiums
Created Cheaper via VPN

Google appears to be clamping down on VPN workarounds for cheaper Premium, as per user reports.https://t.co/Gfg9BB1rs7 pic.twitter.com/b30Z69RS1d

— Pirat_Nation 🔴 (@Pirat_Nation) June 20, 2024

YouTube won’t admit it officially, but according to PCMag, a Google support agent indicated YouTube has “initiated the cancellation of premium memberships for accounts identified as having falsified signup country information.” According to the agent, cancellations began recently. Users who violate the rule will get an email as well as an in-app notification that their plans are canceled, the agent added.

A VPN allows an internet user to hide their location. Additionally, such services also allow users to bypass restrictions imposed by their country of residence. In YouTube’s case, certain users were using VPNs to purchase YouTube Premium subscriptions.

Needless to say. YouTube has a regional pricing system. This means that paying Premium is cheaper or more expensive depending on the region.

YouTube has been fighting with ad blockers for quite some time. The company even started to penalize users who use ad-blockers. The latest move seems yet another tactic that could upset users.