Will This Google+ Flaw Abruptly Shut Down Your YouTube Account?

The latest problem to come out of the recent changes to the YouTube comments might be the biggest one yet.

Michael Janitch, known across social media as dutchsinse, found himself without a YouTube account, he says, after someone anonymously flagged his Google+ account as an impersonator. All of his accounts associated with his G+ profile, including access to Gmail, supposedly went down with it. He had no prior complaints or strikes from YouTube. He claims he never received an email about the complaint or any mobile notifications and couldn’t appeal the termination.

And when he tried to reinstate his G+ account, he says, he ran into another problem: A photo ID was required, which falls in line with Google and YouTube’s insistence on users displaying their real name. But because Janitch’s account is under dutchsinse, he couldn’t prove that his name and face belonged to his screen name. Read more...