YouTube Cracks Down on ‘Mukbang’ Videos: Wave of Demonetizations as Korea-Driven Rules Reach Back to Hit Old Uploads Too

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The story

According to Korean media reports, YouTube has tightened its policies out of concern over eating disorders among young viewers, and popular “mukbang” (big-eating) YouTubers are being hit one after another with demonetization. The tricky part is that the rule applies retroactively to old uploads as well — creators fearing account suspension have started making hundreds of past videos private. On 5ch, opinions split between viewers voicing visceral discomfort with mukbang content itself, those asking why big-eating shows on TV get a pass, and those arguing YouTube should crack down on other problematic content first.

● Millions of views wiped out overnight? The terrifying trap of “retroactive enforcement”

According to Korean media reports, YouTube — worried about rising eating disorders among young people — has moved to tighten its rules, and major mukbang YouTubers are being hit one after another with demonetization.

The tricky part is that the rule applies retroactively to videos posted in the past. Fearing a permanent account ban, creators have been scrambling to make hundreds of old uploads private. Many are giving up the flagship content that built their view counts, with some forced to shift toward a tamer style instead.

Source: zakzak.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

2AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:34
Criminals doing money laundering must be thrilled
42AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:49
Those Shorts that trick you into double-tapping should lose monetization instead
7AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:36
Mukbang videos genuinely piss me off to watch
111AnonymousSep 24, 2026 06:12
Re: #7
It feels like it's disrespecting life itself.
16AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:40
I think the big-eating shows on TV are worse than the ones on YouTube
183AnonymousSep 24, 2026 06:47
Re: #16
They don't even do that anymore
17AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:41
Is it true they throw up after they finish eating?
65AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:54
Re: #17
If it doesn't come out the top, it'll come out the bottom
71AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:56
Re: #17
That's false

It's not "after they finish eating" — they throw up WHILE eating
They never even swallow it
20AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:42
Genuinely unpleasant to watch

So what if you can eat a lot?
And why do the restaurants even allow the filming?
29AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:45
Re: #20
Just don't watch it then — some people actually enjoy it
33AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:46
Re: #29
But Shorts keeps shoving videos I don't even want to see at me
76AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:58
Re: #29
"If you don't like it, don't watch it!" "If you don't like it, don't watch it!" (ASCII art omitted)
45AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:49
Isn't this exactly a case of "if you don't like it, don't watch it"?
49AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:50
Re: #45
Because kids end up watching it too
59AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:53
Re: #45
Because it has a bad influence even on people who choose to watch it
58AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:53
Why does TV get a pass?
70AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:56
Re: #58
Do they even still show that on TV?
75AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:57
Re: #58
TV is pretty heavily regulated too these days
It's down to maybe a few special episodes a year
Back in the day, shows like Food Battle Club got wild as more serious competitive eaters kept joining
Guys chugging a 1.5-liter bottle of juice in one go, that kind of thing
131AnonymousSep 24, 2026 06:19
Re: #58
Hasn't TV basically stopped airing it entirely
ever since a kid died imitating it??
62AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:54
It's not like eating a lot kills you, so there's no need to ban it outright
Is it about food waste? But they're actually eating it all
Well, YouTube's become a lawless zone where anything goes as long as it makes money, so some regulation makes sense
But aren't there other things that should be regulated first?
The Ayato Salon channel is unpleasant (a controversial exposé-style channel)
It completely disregards the feelings and rights of the people it exposes
The Breaking Down stuff (a controversial amateur-fighting YouTube franchise) is unpleasant too
69AnonymousSep 24, 2026 05:55
Re: #62
They'll die young from lifestyle diseases
It promotes unhealthy habits
80AnonymousSep 24, 2026 06:00
Re: #62
Because they're eating when they don't need to
Why bring up Ayato Salon lol
That channel exposes how messed up police responses can be, even if it reuses a lot of footage
91AnonymousSep 24, 2026 06:05
Re: #62
Sounds like the type to tailgate people while texting and driving lol
92AnonymousSep 24, 2026 06:05
Can't do this, can't do that — everyone's forced to be a model student and the content just gets boring
Same thing happened with TV
97AnonymousSep 24, 2026 06:06
Re: #92
Once that causes enough problems, there'll be a swing back the other way
Eventually
109AnonymousSep 24, 2026 06:12
Re: #92
TV about 30 years ago used to have actresses baring their breasts in prime-time dramas
130AnonymousSep 24, 2026 06:19
Regulate the ads first
They're way too indecent
137AnonymousSep 24, 2026 06:21
Re: #130
On YouTube you can adjust that through Google's "My Ad Center"
147AnonymousSep 24, 2026 06:24
Re: #130
Just use a YouTube app that blocks ads
On iPhone: AdLock
On Android: GreenTuber
186AnonymousSep 24, 2026 06:48
It's weird that speed-eating is banned on TV but big-eating and spicy-food challenges are fine
If the logic is "because kids are watching," then basically everything should be banned
188AnonymousSep 24, 2026 06:50
Re: #186
What era are you even talking about, grandpa
191AnonymousSep 24, 2026 06:51
Re: #188
I saw it on Suidow (short for Wednesday no Downtown, a popular variety show)
203AnonymousSep 24, 2026 06:57
Re: #188
Pretty sure Ariyoshi Zemi still does the "eat a 3kg challenge menu" bit almost every week

Background and Key Points of the Debate

Mukbang (big-eating) videos are a genre that originated in South Korea and later spread to Japanese YouTubers as well, becoming a popular category. Japanese television, meanwhile, has its own history here: after viewers imitated TV eating shows and accidents occurred, broadcasters largely self-regulated the genre down to occasional one-off specials. Several posts in the thread referenced this history, repeatedly raising the comparison “why is YouTube’s mukbang content banned while TV’s isn’t?” — but it’s worth noting this compares two different regulatory bodies (a streaming platform’s terms of service versus broadcast standards), so the two can’t simply be equated. Also notable is that retroactive enforcement, which forces creators to mass-unpublish old videos, hits hard for creators who built their earnings on this content, and it remains to be seen whether similar crackdowns will spread to other genres. The thread showed a split between posters expressing visceral discomfort with mukbang videos themselves and those defending the freedom to watch what they choose, with no consensus reached on whether the regulation is justified.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “The Terror of YouTube’s Mass Mukbang Ban! Japan Trembles as Korea-Driven ‘Demonetization’ Spreads“.

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