Ludwig sets ‘world record’ for fastest YouTube ban in just 90 seconds

Brad Norton
Ludwig on YouTube

Ludwig was a man on a mission during his latest YouTube stream. With one goal in mind, he worked fast to secure a rapid ban on the platform, having his broadcast hit offline in just 90 seconds.

Ludwig is one of the biggest personalities on YouTube today. Having signed an exclusive deal with the Google-owned platform in 2021, he’s been nothing but supportive ever since, even advocating for many others to follow in his footsteps.

But although he believes YouTube streaming will overtake Twitch in the near future, that hasn’t stopped him from toeing the line during his own broadcasts. In fact, his latest stream saw him going against the platform’s policies in a direct effort to get himself banned.

After a few minutes strategizing with fans watching along live, Ludwig was ready to go. Starting the clock, he immediately rushed to open two pieces of content in hopes of getting his channel flagged with YouTube’s administrators.

One video he played in the background was the Naruto opening theme. The other was simply the first result that came up in his feed when searching for soccer highlights. Clips from a Juventus vs Salernitana match played over his stream to thousands of fans and before long, they resulted in an abrupt conclusion.

Just 91 seconds into the ‘speedrun’ and his live broadcast was taken down. Initially, a simple message flashed on screen alerting fans that the stream was “suspended for policy violations.” Hours later, upon trying to reopen the VOD, however, we can see for certain the stream was taken down due to copyright infringement.

Ludwig banned on YouTube
Ludwig knew exactly what he was doing to secure the swift ban on YouTube.

“This video contains content from FA Premier League and Serie A, one or more of whom have blocked it on copyright grounds,” Ludwig’s stream replay now reads. In North America, it appears the games are exclusive to the Paramount+ platform, meaning any redistribution on YouTube is prohibited. Thus, Ludwig broadcasting this content for thousands to see at no extra cost is in clear violation of the platform’s rules.

Nonetheless, the streaming star appeared happy with his efforts when all was said and done. Gloating on Twitter shortly after, Ludwig claimed he set the “world record for the fastest ban on YouTube” with his 91-second attempt.

It’s hardly the first time Ludwig has been banned on YouTube though — in fact, he was banned within days of moving to the platform back in December 2021 for copyright reasons, and has been taken offline a couple of times since.

About The Author

Brad Norton is the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. He graduated from Swinburne University with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and has been working full-time in the field for the past six years at the likes of Gamurs Group and now Dexerto. He loves all things single-player gaming (with Uncharted a personal favorite) but has a history on the competitive side having previously run Oceanic esports org Mindfreak. You can contact Brad at brad.norton@dexerto.com