YouTube channels have become a thing in Rwanda after many discovered that they can make money on the internet through uploading contents on different platforms including YouTube and earn according to those platforms monetization policies.

Over a million people view some renowned YouTubers in Rwanda such as, Seburikoko or Papa Sava, Bamenya, YAGO, among many others.

The recent saga triggered by YAGO TV disappearance attracted attention of many after the channel got suspended over various reports that claimed the channel showcased hate, sexual assault, to mention a few reports.

In an interview linked on his channel, Nyarwaya Innocent famously known as YAGO noted that the attacks his channel faced was coming from jealous people who were reporting false allegations on his YouTube channel which was pulled down for a few days.

Calling it jealousy as YAGO mentioned, raised other inquiries from different people like famous blogger known as The Cat or Babalao, who said they were familiar with YouTube terms and conditions , and that the suspension of the channel was due to some content that was uploaded in contrary with YouTube instructions that covered sexual assault.

The New Times talked to some YouTubers who shared the challenges they face in their style of working.

Gratian Niyitegeka a is a Rwandan YouTuber star known as Papa Sava or Seburikoko. He explained that the biggest challenge they face is not having any YouTube representative in the country to help them go about their channel issues. Their channels have no immunity because anytime they can disappear.

"People copy our content and repost them on their channels just to gain more followers without caring about copyright and it makes it tiresome, always checking on other people’s channels to see who copied your content. When you report them and the content is deleted, people think you’re a bad person,” Niyitegeka said.

He further explained that also the earning on YouTube falls into seasons. YouTubers upload the same content and get the same viewers but the income changes unexpectedly. He said one could earn a certain amount of money in December and in January the income falls by 30% which they don’t understand but have nowhere to ask.

Little knowledge on using YouTube is also a common issue that most of the Youtubers share.

Afrimax and Afrimax English are among the outstanding channels in Rwanda owned by Nameless Campos. Talking to this publication, he said that YouTube isn’t something that people understand quite well, including the channel owners and content consumers which results into many other issues. He believes that once people understand how it works, risks will be minimized.

They agreed that one should be understand the Youtube community guidelines very well, which luckily are not very different from our society’s values, if they want to avoid society disputes or termination of their channels.

They say if one manages to follow those regulations, other problems may result outside the working conditions where a person can report you for their personal reasons.

Benimana Ramadhan, well known as Bamenya, says he opened channels three times, getting terminated before being where he is now due to people who reported him for no reason. He says that the efforts that people invest in trying to bring down others should be invested in productive activities and work hard for their own success. 

Benimana went on to explain that other challenges also include inaccessibility to AdSense, a program that enables one to earn money by displaying ads next to your online content.

Some YouTubers work contrary to the channel guidelines intentionally which their fellows are not supporting. Niyitegeka advises that people should be careful with the nature of the content they upload and think of the effects they could impose, especially on other people’s lives.

Actor Gratien Niyitegeka a.k.a Seburikoko is one of the famous YouTubers in Rwanda. File photo.

"There are some who target money, like those who trade other people’s lives such as people with disabilities, and other health problems to attract the audience as they gain viewers,” said Niyitegeka.

He said people should use their talents and also be creative in their working styles rather than using other people’s difficulties to gain the public's attention.