Updated: November 6th, 2023.
YouTube has demonetised SSSniperwolf—real name Alia Shelesh—after she allegedly doxxed fellow creator, Jacksfilms.
ICYMI, Jack has been critical of Alia’s reaction-based content for months. He has made videos alleging that she steals content and fails to credit creators by blocking their usernames.
Jack even went on to create a second YouTube channel mocking the Alia’s content.
But things came to a head earlier this month when Jack claimed that Alia doxxed him. He shared a screenshot from her Instagram story when she asked her followers if she should “visit” Jack, mentioning that he lived just minutes from her shoot location.
“Sssniperwolf just doxxed me on her IG. Creepy, gross, violating,” Jack writes. “What you do is disgusting. You steal content AND stalk youtubers.”
Alia also shared a video on her Instagram story outside Jack’s home. She later defended her behaviour, suggesting it was justified since Jack had consistently posted about her on his YouTube channels, characterising it as “obsessive behaviour.”
“Accusing me of doxxing is literally defamation. I have no idea how to dox,” Alia goes on to write. “He [Jack] literally posted his address on Google and said I threatened him and doxxed him.”
After countless calls to de-platform Alia, @TeamYouTube on X announced how the platform will address SSSniperwolf’s behaviour. According to the post, YouTube has temporarily demonetised Alia’s content— meaning the creator will no longer be making money from videos uploaded to the SSSniperwolf channel.
“Confirming SSSniperWolf has received a temporary monetisation suspension per Creator Responsibility policies,” the statement reads. “Off platform actions that put others’ personal safety at risk harm our community & the behavior on both sides isn’t what we want on YT. Hoping everyone helps move this convo to a better place.”
Since starting the SSSniperWolf channel in 2013, Alia has amassed over 34 million subscribers, making YouTube a lucrative source of income.
At the time of publication, Alia’s main channel appears to have been demonetised. However, other channels associated with the creator remain unaffected. For example, a recent video titled “The Worst Couples Ever!” posted to the SSSniperWolf Top Videos channel seemingly generates revenue through advertisements.
That said, internet users are disappointed with YouTube’s response, claiming that the platform hasn’t done enough.
Many have taken issue with YouTube’s statement, questioning why the platform has only temporarily demonetised SSSniperWolf while attributing blame to both Alia and Jack for the situation. These users believe that influencers like Alia receive “special treatment” and “favouritism” because they bring significant audiences to the platform.
“Criticism/parody and doxxing are very different things. JacksFilms did absolutely nothing wrong, no one is exempt from criticism, Sssniperwolf should be de-platformed, not just demonetised for a short period of time,” one X user writes.
“This is just insulting. YouTube didn’t demonetise SSSniperwolf’s 2nd channel. Which pulls in 15+ Million views a month. Sometimes upwards of 35M+ views,” another user reflects.
Alia has addressed her “punishment” on X, apologising for her behaviour while thanking YouTube and her audience for keeping her accountable.
“Let me start by saying I’m sorry for my recent actions; it is inexcusable. I’m sorry to Jacksfilm, YouTube, the entire creator community, and my incredible fans for not being a better example for appropriate conflict resolution,” she begins. “I’d also like to thank YouTube for holding me accountable. I deserve it, respect the decision and appreciate the opportunity to learn and grow from a true lapse in judgement.”
On November 4, Jack posted a video titled “What comes next,” on the JJJacksfilms channel.
“These last few weeks have been pretty rough to say the least,” he begins. “We’re just in this weird limbo of scared to leave our home and strongly considering moving… So, it hasn’t been great, but we both want to thank you all for your incredible support during this time.”
He goes on to share his plans for the channel, asking whether any content creators within his audience would be open to him watching their videos on livestream. Rather than reacting to the videos, Jack explains that he would like to offer help to help them grow.
“If you’re a creator and you’re open to the idea of me watching your work live on stream, providing critiques and feedback and tips, then please send us your stuff,” he says. “I’ll shout out the creators. I’ll link to them in the description once the series starts, but most importantly, I’ll only react to videos from creators that consent to me reacting to them.”
While both Jack and Alia have both spoken out about the situation, viewers remain unimpressed with YouTube’s approach to the incident. So the question is; will YouTube respond to the criticism and give Alia a harsher punishment? Only time will tell.