If you use YouTube be aware some can be banned as soon as Wednesday

Some users of YouTube in the U.S. may be barred from the platform starting Wednesday as the Google-owned media giant plans to roll out ID verification.

Recent reports indicate that YouTube will begin testing a new AI-powered age verification system in the US starting Wednesday, August 13, 2025.

This system will attempt to determine if a user is under 18 based on their viewing habits, regardless of the age provided during account creation. This is an expansion of efforts already in place in other regions. 

Here is what we know:

However, this does not mean channels will be banned as a direct consequence of this new age verification system

According to Time Magazine, YouTube will not require users to upload IDs, but if the system misidentifies a user as underage, they will have the option to verify their age using a credit card, selfie, or government-issued ID to remove the restrictions. 

YouTube and other social media platforms are cracking down on age verification measures after facing criticism that teens could circumvent their safeguards by signing up with a fake birthdate.

Those concerns come amid broader scrutiny from parents and lawmakers who have long worried such sites harm kids’ safety and mental health.

Meta last year said it would similarly use AI to identify when teen users lie about their age on Instagram so that it could apply expanded youth safety protections.

And TikTok uses the technology to detect users who may be under 13 years old, the minimum age to be on the platform.

Several other online platforms — including Reddit and Discord — have also started verifying some users’ ages because of new rules under the UK’s Online Safety Act. The law’s child safety provisions went into effect last month.

YouTube said its AI age verification system has shown promise in other countries prior to Wednesday’s US rollout.

For creators, YouTube will apply some additional protections including setting uploads as private by default for anyone and restricting the ability to earn from gifts on vertical live streams.

While the video platform expects the changes to have “limited impact” for most creators, YouTube noted that “some creators may experience a shift in their audience categorized as teens (under 18).

This may result in a decrease in ad revenue since we only serve non-personalized ads to those viewers.”