"You're still playing Fortnite": Fans react as Ninja claims YouTube has shadowbanned him

Former Fornite professional player Tyler "Ninja" claimed in his recent YouTube broadcast that the platform had engaged in "Shadowbanning" him. To those unaware, Shadowbanning is a technique used by platforms to secretly restrict individuals' content from being accessible or visible to audiences, often without any intimation to the individual being shadowbanned.

During the broadcast, a viewer claimed that they used to regularly watch his content a year ago before YouTube allegedly took Ninja "off his feed". Discussing the possibility of him being banned, Ninja said:

"That's wild though, dude. I've been saying I've been shadowbanned on YouTube for years, bro. And for you to say that without me even like prompting you it is kind of wild."

Fans reacted to this claim by Ninja, with some bringing up the content being outputted by the streamer as one of the potential reasons he could have been the recipient of a shadowban. Others blamed the streamer for not utilizing the YouTube algorithm by producing long clips instead of short ones.

X user @NoodlesXD1 remarked on Ninja's choice to continue playing Fortnite while also allegedly talking poorly of other creators, stating:

"I mean....your (sic) still playing Fortnite where most creators have moved on, and your (sic) saying negative things about other creators."

On the other side, @Prowl8413 talked about the lack of proper utilization of the YouTube algorithm by Ninja as the reason behind his videos not being pushed to users' YouTube feeds:

"Yo @Ninja you are making the algorithm work against you. Long gameplay clips aren't in, and are maybe better suited for shorts away from a video based channel....The way you make content is probably best suited for a shorts/stream channel. I would dump doing videos all together."

User @LOOTSTATIONYT, a self-proclaimed former viewer of Ninja, stated that the streamer tended to provide commentary during his videos in which he talks about "quitting and hating on the game" which put them off from watching his content. They wrote:

"...I personally click off cause I don't enjoy gameplay videos myself but you also are posting a lot of videos talking about you quitting and hating on the game. I don't think this is the reason for you possibly being shadow banned just my personal opinion on your content."

Other users, such as @LuisChavezTV were more hopeful, stating that the "shadowban" may simply be a temporary glitch:

"I think it’s just a temporary glitch."

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What are some instances of Ninja criticizing other content creators?

Ninja is known to be an outspoken personality, often discussing topics without much filter and being upfront regarding his opinions on content creators. He has previously put Kai Cenat on the spot regarding his collaborative Hardcore Minecraft livestream, where Ninja claimed that Cenat had purposefully died as they "didn't want to win" due to them pulling a large number of views on the stream.

On the other side, Ninja had labeled Adin Ross "unhinged" for hosting a broadcast with presidential candidate Donald Trump. This was met with much backlash from Ross himself, who also called Ninja out for being a "hater and a joke."

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Kai had also called out Ninja in June 2024, when the Fortnite streamer gave him a "backhanded compliment" following his chat bringing up the former's viewership in comparison to his.