Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
- Several YouTube Premium subscribers have had their Premium membership randomly canceled.
- However, the common thread between these cancelations is that the users used a VPN workaround to subscribe to Premium at a cheaper rate than the one applicable to their region.
- Google has commented that it is cracking down on this practice while avoiding discussing the forced cancelations.
Update, June 20, 2024 (02:17 PM ET): Yesterday, we told you of reports that people’s YouTube Premium subscriptions were being terminated if that user had used a VPN workaround to get the service at a cheaper rate. Now, via TechCrunch, we have a statement from Google confirming that it is clamping down on this practice:
To provide the most accurate plans and offers available, we have systems in place to determine the country of our users. In instances where the signup country does not match where the user is accessing YouTube, we’re asking members to update their billing information to their current country of residence.