How to Report Harassment, Doxxing, or Cyberbullying on YouTube

Harassment on YouTube can include targeted insults, threats, doxxing, stalking, unwanted sexualisation, abusive audience behaviour, or content that encourages viewers to attack someone. It can appear in videos, Shorts, livestreams, descriptions, comments, channel pages, community posts, external links, or other YouTube features.

YouTube does not allow content that targets someone with prolonged insults or slurs based on physical traits or protected group status. It also does not allow harmful behaviour such as threats or doxxing. YouTube takes a stricter approach when minors are targeted.

If you are being harassed, do not assume you have to handle it alone. You can report videos, comments, live chats, and channels. If there are specific threats and you feel unsafe, report the situation to local law enforcement as well.

This guide explains what YouTube harassment policy covers, what doxxing means, how to report different types of harassment, what evidence to collect, when privacy or legal complaints may also apply, and how creators, businesses, agencies, and public-facing teams can protect themselves and their communities.

The Short Answer

If someone is harassing, threatening, doxxing, stalking, or cyberbullying you on YouTube, report the specific video, comment, live chat, or channel. If many videos or comments are involved, report the channel as well.

Collect evidence before and after reporting. Save URLs, screenshots, dates, usernames, timecodes, and examples of threats or personal information. If there are specific threats against you and you feel unsafe, contact local law enforcement.

If the content includes personal information, use YouTube privacy complaint process as well. If it impersonates you, report impersonation. If it contains defamatory statements, a legal complaint may be relevant.

What Counts as Harassment on YouTube?

Harassment can include content that targets an identifiable person with abuse, threats, insults, or harmful behaviour.

Examples can include:

• Prolonged insults about physical traits
• Slurs based on protected group status
• Threats of violence
• Doxxing or sharing private information
• Stalking behaviour
• Unwanted sexualisation
• Directing viewers to abuse someone
• Mocking death or serious injury
• Blackmail attempts
• Harassment targeting minors

Harassment can be in the video itself, the title, description, comments, live chat, or external links included in the content.

What Is Doxxing?

Doxxing is sharing someone private or non-public personal information, often to expose them to unwanted attention, harassment, or risk.

Doxxing can include sharing:

• Home address
• Phone number
• Email address
• Private workplace details
• Bank information
• Identification numbers
• Family member details
• Location details intended to create risk

If personal information is posted to direct abusive attention or traffic toward someone, report it quickly.

Threats Should Be Treated Urgently

If someone makes a specific threat against you, do not rely only on a YouTube report. Contact local law enforcement if you feel unsafe.

Examples of urgent threats include:

• Direct threats to kill or injure you
• Threats with a time or place
• Threats involving weapons
• Encouraging others to attack you
• Swatting threats
• Stalking combined with location information

Save evidence before it disappears. Take screenshots and record URLs, channel names, dates, and timecodes.

How to Report a Harassing Video

The general process is:

1. Open the video on YouTube.
2. Select the report option.
3. Choose the category that best matches the issue, such as harassment or threats.
4. Add details if prompted.
5. Submit the report.

If the harassment appears at a specific moment in the video, note the timecode. Timecodes help reviewers find the issue faster.

How to Report Harassing Comments

Harassment often happens in comments. You can report individual comments and hide users from your own channel.

If the comments are on your channel, you can also:

• Delete the comment
• Hide the user from your channel
• Block certain words
• Hold potentially inappropriate comments for review
• Add moderators
• Limit who can comment

If the comment includes personal information, screenshot it before removing it from your channel records.

How to Report a Channel

If many videos or comments are involved, report the channel. YouTube says if there are many videos or comments you would like to report, you can report the channel.

Report the channel when:

• The channel repeatedly targets you
• The channel encourages viewers to harass you
• The channel posts several abusive videos
• The channel is dedicated to attacking one person
• The channel is doxxing or stalking
• The channel is impersonating you while harassing others

Channel-level reports are useful when the pattern matters.

What Evidence to Collect

Before content is removed or hidden, collect evidence.

Save:

• Video URLs
• Channel URLs
• Comment URLs where possible
• Screenshots
• Dates and times
• Timecodes
• Usernames and handles
• Threat wording
• Personal information that was exposed
• Evidence of repeated targeting

Do not repost the harmful content publicly if doing so spreads the abuse further. Keep records securely.

Harassment vs Criticism

YouTube allows criticism, debate, commentary, and public discussion. Not every negative video is harassment.

A video criticising your work, brand, public statements, or content may be allowed if it does not cross into policy violations.

The issue becomes stronger when the content includes:

• Threats
• Doxxing
• Prolonged personal insults
• Protected group slurs
• Stalking
• Unwanted sexualisation
• Directing viewers to attack someone
• Targeting minors

Report the policy violation, not just the fact that the content is negative.

Harassment of Minors

YouTube takes a stricter approach to content targeting minors. If a child or teenager is being harassed, bullied, sexualised, threatened, or exposed, act quickly.

Steps:

• Save evidence
• Report the content
• Use privacy reporting if personal information or images are involved
• Contact school, parents, guardians, or local authorities where appropriate
• Do not engage with the harasser publicly

Safety comes before platform process.

External Links Can Violate Policy Too

YouTube harassment policy can apply to external links in content. This includes clickable URLs, links in descriptions, verbal directions to other sites, or other off-platform directions.

If a YouTube video directs viewers to a site that hosts non-consensual intimate imagery, private information, harassment campaigns, or abusive content, report the video and mention the link issue.

What If the Harassment Is in a Live Stream?

Live streams can create fast-moving harassment through live chat, call-ins, raids, or coordinated abuse.

If you are the streamer, prepare moderation before going live:

• Assign moderators
• Enable blocked words
• Use slow mode
• Hold risky messages for review
• Remove abusive users
• Disable chat if needed

If someone else is using a live stream to harass you, collect the stream URL, timecodes if available, chat screenshots, and report the content.

What If Viewers Are Being Sent to Harass You?

Content that directs viewers to abuse someone can violate YouTube policy. This can include telling viewers to leave abusive comments, contact someone, raid a stream, or attack someone off-platform.

Evidence is important. Save the exact wording and timecode where the creator encouraged the abuse.

Privacy Complaints for Personal Information

If the harassment includes your personal information, use the privacy complaint process too.

Personal information can include your image, name, national identification number, bank account number, contact information, or other uniquely identifying information.

Privacy and harassment can overlap. Report both if both apply.

Impersonation Reports for Fake Accounts

If someone creates a fake channel pretending to be you and uses it for harassment, report impersonation as well.

Collect:

• The fake channel URL
• Your official channel or identity link
• Screenshots of copied name, image, or handle
• Examples of abusive comments or videos

Impersonation is a separate policy issue from harassment.

Defamation or Legal Complaints

If the issue is false statements that harm reputation, a defamation complaint may be relevant. YouTube says defamation legal complaints must come from the person in question or their authorised legal representative.

For defamation complaints, vague claims like “the whole video is defamatory” are not enough. You need to identify the exact statements and provide the required legal information.

Use this route carefully. It is legal, not just a normal report.

How Creators Can Protect Their Channels

If you are a creator being harassed, protect your channel environment.

Do this:

• Use comment filters
• Block abusive words
• Hide repeat harassers
• Add trusted moderators
• Do not feed harassment with public arguments
• Document serious threats
• Warn your audience calmly if scams are involved
• Report abusive channels

Moderation is not weakness. It is community management.

How Businesses Should Handle Harassment

Businesses may face harassment through fake reviews, abusive videos, fake support channels, doxxing of employees, or targeted campaigns.

A business should:

• Document threats and doxxing
• Protect employee personal information
• Report policy violations
• Escalate serious threats internally
• Use legal routes only when appropriate
• Communicate calmly with customers if scams are involved
• Review public contact details

Employee safety should be prioritised over public argument.

Agency Workflow for Harassment Issues

If an agency manages a public channel, it should have a response workflow.

Agency checklist:

• Identify the affected person or brand
• Collect URLs and screenshots
• Classify the issue: harassment, privacy, impersonation, trademark, or defamation
• Report the content through the right route
• Advise the client on moderation
• Escalate threats to the client immediately
• Keep records of actions taken

Do not promise that YouTube will remove every negative video. Focus on clear policy violations.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Avoid these mistakes:

• Engaging emotionally with harassers
• Failing to save evidence
• Reporting criticism as harassment without policy basis
• Ignoring threats
• Leaving personal information visible in comments
• Using the wrong reporting route
• Letting live chat run without moderators
• Publicly reposting private information while complaining about it
• Waiting too long when minors are targeted

FAQ

Can I report harassment on YouTube?

Yes. You can report videos, comments, live chats, and channels that violate harassment or cyberbullying policies.

What is doxxing?

Doxxing is sharing private or non-public personal information, often to expose someone to harassment or risk.

What if someone threatens me?

Report it to YouTube and contact local law enforcement if you feel unsafe.

Can criticism be harassment?

Not always. Criticism is not automatically harassment. The issue is whether it crosses into threats, doxxing, prolonged insults, protected group slurs, stalking, or other harmful behaviour.

Can I report a whole channel?

Yes, especially if many videos or comments show a pattern of harassment.

What if my personal information is posted?

Use YouTube privacy complaint process and report the content.

What if someone is impersonating me while harassing others?

Report impersonation and harassment. Collect evidence of both.

What evidence should I save?

Save URLs, screenshots, timecodes, dates, usernames, threats, and examples of personal information being shared.

Final Thoughts

Harassment, doxxing, and cyberbullying on YouTube should be handled with evidence, not arguments. Report the specific content, save records, use privacy or impersonation routes where needed, and contact local law enforcement if there are threats or immediate safety concerns.

For creators, moderation tools can protect your community. For businesses, employee safety and brand trust need a clear response process. For agencies, the right approach is to document, classify, report, and escalate serious risk quickly.

YouTube allows criticism and debate, but it does not allow targeted abuse, threats, doxxing, or harassment. Use the platform tools carefully and focus on safety first.