Investigators continue digging into YouTube shooting suspect's background

Kristen Sze Image
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Investigators continue digging into YouTube shooting suspect's background
Investigators continue to look into whether the shooter was motivated by YouTube's policy changes that may have affected her income.

SAN BRUNO, Calif. (KGO) -- Investigators continue to look into whether the shooter was motivated by YouTube's policy changes that may have affected her income.

Aghdam's social media accounts and websites have all been taken down. Her personal website, YouTube channels, Facebook page, Instagram page, and Twitter account are all gone from public view, although investigators are pouring over them for clues into her motive for the shooting.

RELATED: What we know about the YouTube shooter Nasim Aghdam

"I'm being discriminated and I'm being filtered on YouTube and I'm not the only one," Aghdam said in one of her videos.

Aghdam rallied against YouTube policy changes that have made it harder for video creators with smaller followings to make money.

In February, YouTube demonetized channels with fewer than 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time.

Although Aghdam's main English channel had more than 5,000 subscribers, many of her videos were demonetized. She also complained that YouTube hid some of her videos from people under the age of 18, citing inappropriate content.

RELATED: Officials identify YouTube shooter as Nasim Aghdam

Venture Capitalist Paul Holland explains how these rules serve to maintain YouTube's community standards.

"They were put in place because YouTube, unlike what people think about it, they think it's a user-generated video site. It's really a large advertising network," Holland said. "And these advertisers need trust and safety."

Meantime, Youtube has just sent out its first tweet since the shooting. It says: "Dear YouTube Community, As you know, yesterday was an incredibly difficult day for our teams in San Bruno and around the world. Thank you so much for your concern and support. All of us working here at YouTube are very grateful for this amazing community."

Click here for full coverage on the YouTube shooting in San Bruno.