Rule-breakers running conspiracy theory QAnon channels on YouTube are deleting their own videos, CNET reports. But it's not because they've turned over a new leaf, but rather an attempt to continue operating without YouTube taking action to remove the channels.

It doesn't appear to be working, though.

According to the report, videos with names like "TRUMP HAS HAD MILITARY INTELLIGENCE INFILTRATED 4NTIFA," are being taken down by their creators as part of a plan to stop them being removed by YouTube, and the channels banned. The tactic involves posting videos, spammed across networks of QAnon and other far-right channels, and then removing them after a short period of time to avoid detection. YouTube recently removed 40 such channels.

Three Strikes and You're Out

YouTube currently uses a "three strikes and you're out" approach to videos banned under its rules. Its guidelines call for a first strike on a video to come with a one-week suspension that stops users posting new content on the platform. A second strike that takes place inside a 90-day window is punished with a two-week suspension. Finally, a permanent ban is the result of a third strike.

This deletion tactic isn't the only one that people use to try and avoid strikes on YouTube. Others involve strategies like zooming in on images at varying speeds as a way to try and fool the artificial intelligence algorithms utilized to spot violating content.

Nonetheless, this approach of posting content to various channels, then removing it and replacing it with yet more content, is a way of trying to reduce the likelihood of videos being flagged.

The CNET report notes that the QAnon channels pursuing this video-removal strategy are not especially big. Videos typically got between 8,000 and 150,000 views prior to deletion. Nonetheless, while those numbers may pale in comparison with YouTube's biggest channels, it's still a potentially sizable audience for videos YouTube doesn't want put up on its platform at all.

The Moderation Challenge

YouTube has a big challenge on its hands when it comes to moderation. The fact that anyone who hasn't explicitly been banned from the platform can upload videos unchecked means that a certain proportion of these are almost guaranteed to be objectionable. Approximately 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute of every day, making 100% human moderation impossible.

But YouTube has worked to introduce ways of reducing this objectionable content, and being transparent about how it does that.

For example, recently it began sharing information about its Volatile View Rate: the percentage of video views on YouTube that come from videos that violate YouTube's policies.

Still, as reports like this latest one show, this remains a major headache for YouTube---not least because, whatever tools it introduces, there will always be bad actors who try and find ways of getting around them.