Crowder for years has attacked Maza, host of Vox's Strikethrough series. Crowder's homophobic and racist comments often spurred mass social media attacks and other abuse against Maza.
Maza repeatedly flagged Crowder's vitriolic YouTube videos, but his reports apparently went unheeded until late last month, when he posted a tweet that went viral.
YouTube's Response
YouTube on Tuesday responded with a tweet stating an in-depth review of Crowder's flagged videos found language "that was clearly hurtful," but it went on to say that "the videos as posted don't violate our policies."
As an open platform, "it's crucial for us to allow everyone … to express their opinions within the scope of our policies," YouTube said. Opinions "can be deeply offensive, but if they don't violate our policies, they'll remain on our site."
YouTube does not endorse or support the viewpoints expressed in videos on its platform, it said.
YouTube declined comment when approached by various reporters on the issue.
It did offer to explain its decision on background to The Verge, which is owned by Vox Media, but editor-in-chief Nilay Patel turned down the offer because YouTube would not go on the record.
"I believe that YouTube missed an opportunity here to be more transparent in the way it interprets and enforces its stated policies," said Dan Goldstein, president of Page 1 Solutions.
Like other social media platforms, YouTube "has an obligation to clearly state its policies on harassment and privacy," he told TechNewsWorld. "Once stated, it must enforce them, or users won't respect the boundaries."
YouTube did not shut the door on further action Tuesday, tweeting "there are other aspects of the channel that we're still evaluating. We'll be in touch with any further updates."
YouTube's Policies
YouTube's harassment and cyberbullying policy bars content or behavior intended to maliciously harass, threaten or bully others, including the following:
Revealing someone's personal information -- although posting widely available public information, such as a public official's office phone number, is allowed;
Content deliberately posted in order to humiliate someone;
Content that makes hurtful and negative personal comments/videos about another person;
Content that incites others to harass or threaten individuals on or off YouTube; and
Sexualizing or degrading an individual who is engaged or present in an otherwise non-sexual context.
YouTube will remove content promoting violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on various attributes, including the following:
Ethnicity
Gender identity
Nationality
Race
Sexual orientation
Crowder's attacks on Maza appear to have breached both policies.
However, what one person considers hurtful another might think of as spirited debate, said Michael Jude, program manager at Stratecast/Frost & Sullivan.
YouTube should "define a standard that satisfies everyone," he told TechNewsWorld, but "I don't think that's possible given the subjective nature of what they're attempting to control."
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