• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, April 7, 2017

Following a wave of criticism from advertisers unhappy about their ads appearing next to offensive content, YouTube is tightening the screws for the YouTube Partner Program, which allows content creators to make money from ads on their channels.

That includes a minimum of threshold of views that channels must reach before they can carry ads, and a new review procedure to determine whether their content is suitable for ads or not.

The new rules, announced by YouTube in a blog post on Thursday, require content creators to attract at least 10,000 views on any channel before it will be considered for admission to the YouTube Partner Program, which was previously open to all creators.

Additionally, admission is not automatic once they reach this threshold: instead, YouTube will then review the channel to make sure it doesn’t fall into one of the prohibited categories, including illegal or offensive content.

Content creators who apply to the YouTube Partner Program can check the status of their application in the platform’s Creator Studio, under monetization in the channel tab.

According to YouTube, the new vetting system has been in the works since last November, and was originally intended to help protect original content creators from impersonators who steal and re-post their videos.

However the review procedures will also help screen out various types of offensive content that have angered advertisers in recent weeks, including videos posted by terrorist sympathizers, racists, and the like.

YouTube also recently announced that it will introduce tools enabling advertisers to immediately block their ads from appearing next to content for any reason.

According to a new blog post by Facebook video boss Fidji Simo, one out of every five videos posted on Facebook is a live video, and time spent watching live videos has increased four-fold in just one year.