There's a troubling trend on YouTube of seemingly legitimate accounts being hit with "inauthentic content" strikes that take them down[1]. Appeals don't seem to make any difference, especially for smaller channels that don't have access to an 'agent', so nothing seems to help.
If the situation is run past Ask Studio[2] (YouTube's AI helper) it'll respond with typical information pulled from the "Disclosing use of altered or synthetic content (https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/14328491)" and the "YouTube Channel Monetisation Policies (https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1311392)" policies that should explicitly outline and define what "inauthentic content" is. Instead searching YouTube Help all that's pulled back is an 'update' message where "inauthentic content" is referenced in relation to renaming a previously disclosed "repetitious content" guideline[3]. Except that doesn't exist either, at least not as a specifically delineated "Repetitious Content" policy.
Instead what we have is a lot of implied and half explained language where "repetitious" is used to define content in various contexts that cannot be monetised, "content must be original and non-repetitious", as a paragraphed explainer on "What kind of content can I monetize? (https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2490020)", but no distinct policy definition as the note on "YouTube Channel Monetisation Policies (https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1311392)" implies.
It should be a relatively easy omission to fix by publishing a document where "Inauthentic Content" is a main page or sub-heading that has its own distinct explanation below. Simple. Of course doing that would mean YouTube no longer being able to rely on vague posting about and equally vague interpretation of their monetisation policies, thus giving them all the latitude needed to respond to disputes with more boiler-plate disclosing vague-posting.
Getting hit by this looks like the user is left with little proper recourse.
Footnotes
[1] the "strikes" and "take down['s]" in question seem largely related to demonetisation, flagged accounts are being removed from the monetisation program; ad revenue share, paid chats, subscriptions etc. is being revoked, and not necessarily account closure (although this does appear to be happening in some instances).
[2] Ask Studio provides the following explanation; Definition of Inauthentic Content: This refers to mass-produced or repetitive content that shows little to no variation across videos or is easily replicable at scale. Examples include content produced using a template, image slideshows with minimal commentary, or readings of non-original materials.
[3] "inauthentic content" 15 July 2025: We're making a minor update to our 'repetitious content' policy to better clarify that this includes content that is repetitive or mass-produced. We are also renaming this policy from 'repetitious content' to 'inauthentic content'. This type of content has always been ineligible for monetisation under our existing policies, where creators are rewarded for original and authentic content. There is no change to our reused content policy, which reviews content like commentary, clips, compilations and reaction videos.