four other Proud Boys members have been indicted on charges of seditious conspiracy for allegedly planning the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Lawyers for the defendants have said there is no evidence that their clients engaged in such a plot.54 Carrot and stick The data-analysis site Social Blade estimates that just one of Pool’s channels, Timcast IRL, brings in thousands of dollars a month in ad revenue shared by YouTube.55 In a Twitter exchange in 2021, Pool indicated his familiarity with the nuances of YouTube’s rules and his belief that he avoids violations that could lead to the company cracking down on his channels.56 Supplementing his advertising revenue, Pool steers loyalists to timcast.com, an off-YouTube site where he sells t-shirts, mugs, posters, and satiric “Proof of Gun” stickers, which resemble pandemic vaccination cards.57 Memberships costing $10 to $1,000 a month entitle Pool enthusiasts to a range of exclusive events such as a recent podcast hosted by conservative journalist Amber Athey entitled, “Leftist Says She Is Purposefully Grooming Her Kids to Be Gay.” 58 In an email, Pool told us that in preparing his commentaries he relies exclusively on sources approved by NewsGuard, a service that rates the reliability of news and information sites. All of his claims “are backed by data and certification,” he said, and he posts his source material openly. For interview subjects, Pool said, “We seek out relevant people in news and culture to discuss issues, just like CNN or other mainstream outlets.” He noted that he has hosted non-conservative guests such as technology writer Matt Binder and essayist Stephen Marche. Pool added that he publicly maintains “the position that political violence doesn’t work.” As for his ad revenue, Pool said “Social Blade’s information is incorrect and unreliable.” its more stringent Advertiser-Friendly Content Guidelines and, as a result, be disqualified from carrying ads. Creators who repeatedly violate either set of policies may be excluded altogether from the YouTube Partner Program. The threat of “demonetization” constitutes another means, in addition to content down-ranking and removal, of protecting users from harmful material and assuring advertisers that their brands won’t be sullied by association with such material. At the same time, however, demonetization of an individual video or an entire channel typically does not stop a creator from continuing to post content on YouTube. This carrot-and-stick approach reflects the company's determination to enforce its rules while trying not to alienate popular creators. Increasingly, however, creators are circumventing the prospect of demonetization by using their YouTube channels to generate alternative cash flows on other platforms. Employing what’s known as “alternative monetization,” creators direct their YouTube loyalists to separate sites where the creators sell merchandise, collect donations, and charge for access to “exclusive” live-streamed events. Especially popular among extreme right-leaning creators, this strategy undercuts, at least to some extent, YouTube’s notion that demonetization constitutes a potent deterrent to online misbehavior, according to a recent study by researchers at Cornell Tech. YouTube’s “moderation through demonetization is not likely to be an effective tool” for discouraging production of ‘The Replacement’: A Deadly Myth YouTube hosts an array of heavily trafficked channels that aim to whip up opposition to immigration, according to Define American, a proimmigrant group. Some of these channels amplify “replacement theory,” a pernicious myth that Democrats aim to shift political power from white Americans to immigrants and other people of color who reliably support liberal elites. This PragerU video, entitled “Illegal Immigration: It's About Power,” is narrated by Tucker Carlson, who has popularized the replacement concept on his Fox News show. The video has tallied 5.2 million views since 2018. The 18-year-old white shooter accused of targeting African Americans during a massacre in May 2022 in Buffalo, N.Y., cited the replacement idea in an online manifesto. Troubling content that YouTube does not remove under its Community Guidelines may nevertheless violate HOW YOUTUBE SPREADS HARMFUL CONTENT – AND WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT 11