YouTubers who were kicked from the platform for violating the rules can now request a “second chance.”

YouTube Announce On Thursday, creators whose channels were previously terminated will be able to request new accounts.

“We know that many terminated creators deserve a second chance — YouTube has evolved and changed over the past 20 years, and we’ve had our share of second chances to make things right with our community, too,” YouTube wrote in the blog post.

This policy change, which YouTube calls “experimental,” didn’t come out of nowhere. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) had Subpoena Alphabet, YouTube’s parent company, has decided to investigate whether the Biden-Harris administration has “coerced or colluded” the platforms into censoring speech. Last month, Alphabet’s legal counsel, Daniel F. Donovan, wrote in a letter letter To Rep. Jordan that the company will allow some terminated creators to return.

Although YouTube does not explicitly reference its COVID-19 or election integrity policies in its blog post, Alphabet’s letter makes clear that these policies are our top priorities.

“In a reflection of the company’s commitment to free expression, YouTube will provide an opportunity for all creators to rejoin the platform if the company terminates their channels for repeated violations of COVID-19 and election integrity policies that are no longer in effect,” Alphabet’s letter said. “YouTube values ​​conservative voices on its platform and recognizes that these creators have broad reach and play an important role in civil discourse.”

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter took action to prevent the spread of medical misinformation about Virus Vaccines.

At the time, YouTube blocked content suggesting that vaccines could cause cancer, a false claim Not supported by Scientific research. The following year, these platforms also took action against accounts they believed were inciting violence after the January 6 riots, including President Donald Trump’s account.

These policies have since been discontinued, but creators whose subscription is terminated under these rules remain unable to upload videos to YouTube.

TechCrunch asked YouTube whether this pilot program would focus specifically on creators who were terminated based on COVID-19 and election integrity policies. We did not receive a response before publication.

“We will consider several factors when evaluating new channel requests, such as whether a creator has committed particularly serious or persistent violations of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service, or whether a creator’s activity on or off the platform has harmed or may continue to harm the YouTube community, such as channels that endanger the safety of children,” the company wrote in its blog.

YouTube also stated that creators who have been terminated due to copyright infringement will not be allowed to request a new channel.

Creators must wait one year after terminating their channel before they are eligible to apply for a new channel; However, they can still appeal their termination during that year if they believe YouTube’s decision was unfair.

If a creator is restored, they will start from scratch, rather than regaining access to their old account. However, they can still apply to join the YouTube Partner Program once they are eligible to do so, allowing them to share advertising revenue with YouTube.