YouTube briefly shuts down popular sermon channel

YouTube temporarily terminated the account of a popular sermon channel purportedly due to violations of the site's terms of service. The channel, however, was later reinstated without a detailed explanation as to why it was suspended.

Canadian-based website SermonIndex.net had posted over 5,600 video sermons on its YouTube channel, which currently has over 95,000 subscribers.

However, the channel became inaccessible earlier this week and replaced with a page containing a message, which stated that it has been terminated due to "multiple or severe violations" of YouTube's terms of service.

A representative of SermonIndex said in a statement to The Christian Post that they discovered the termination on Monday. When Greg Gordon, the channel owner, submitted a complaint to YouTube, he received a vague reply about the suspension of the account.

"At this point I have to believe there is religious discrimination possibly involved and this does not seem normal to have no email warning or exact reason why the account is deleted," said Gordon.

After news of the channel's termination was reported on various websites, the administrators of SermonIndex.net learned that the YouTube account was restored days later.

"We have re-reviewed your account and have concluded that it is not in violation of our Terms of Service. Therefore, we have unsuspended your account. This means your account is once again active and operational, and in good standing," read the message from YouTube.

This was not the first time that YouTube has blocked Christian content from its site. Last year, a short film on Christian persecution titled "Chased" was removed from popular video sharing platform. Last September, it blocked the trailer for the faith-based film "I'm Not Ashamed," although it was eventually restored on the site.

According to New City Times, YouTube has a standard policy that allows community members to report channels that are deemed to be in violation of the website's guidelines.

"Anyone on Youtube can submit a complaint, and YouTube will delete a channel after three strikes. No appeal. No questions asked," said Donny Soles III, a Regent University law student.