YouTube says it will ban videos that “maliciously insult someone” based on “protected attributes” such as race, gender identity or sexuality.

Under YouTube’s new policy, the Google owned video sharing platform said it will also ban content that contain “implied threats of violence”.

YouTube said it would be taking a “stronger stance” against personal attacks in an effort to make the platform a safer environment for its community.

The ban will cover videos inciting violence against a person or insulting someone maliciously based on characteristics like race, gender expression or sexual orientation, whether it is a private individual, YouTube personality or public figure.

The new rules will apply to “everyone”, including YouTube stars, politicians and the general public, according to YouTube. Those that consistently flout the new policy will have their ability to earn ad revenue restricted and may have their videos deleted.

YouTube’s announcement comes months after the company promised to reevaluate its harassment policy following an incident in July where one video-maker claimed he had been victimised by another abusive YouTube star.

At the time, the platform came under fire for opting not to ban the videos, in which right-wing personality Steven Crowder made comments about Vox journalist Carols Maza. YouTube said after an in-depth review of the videos that they did not violate their policies.

Maza claims that Crowder used his channel to direct homophobic and racist slurs at him. Although the company did not remove the videos at the time, it did demonetise them so that Crowder could not earn money from running ads on his channel.

In his videos Crowder referred to Maza as a “lipsy queer”, a “gay Vox sprite” and a “gay Mexican”. Crowder defended his videos saying that his comments had merely been “friendly ribbing”.

Many of the videos related to the row have since then been deleted by Crowder ahead of the policy change.

A spokesman for the company said that the Crowder incident had highlighted to the company the need for it to review its policy, but that it had already wanted to update its policy since April due to behaviours it had seen on the platform.

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“Even if a single video doesn’t cross the line, with our new harassment policy we can take a pattern of behaviour into account for enforcement,” Neal Mohan, chief product officer at YouTube told the BBC. 

Mohan said that there would be some exemptions from the policy, including insults used in “scripted satire, stand-up comedy, or music”.

“This is not a free pass to harass someone and claim ‘I was joking’,” he added.

The company, he said, had consulted with think tanks, video-makers, Google employees and third-parties about the policy. Mohan said he did not think the new restrictions would impact YouTubers’ freedom of expression.

“We don’t want YouTube to be a place where public discourse is getting stifled as a result of people having the fear of being harassed on our platform,” he said.

“My view is that, on balance, having a strong framework around which we are protecting individuals from being harassed is important to ensure that our platform remains one where there can be robust debate.”