YouTube has de-monetized popular right-wing commentator Steven Crowder, as backlash continues to grow following its defense of keeping the channel live despite it containing homophobic content. The firm has been facing fresh criticism after it told a gay reporter that homophobic harassment he received from the conservative YouTuber doesn't violate its anti-harassment policies. Carlos Maza, host of the Vox news series Strikethrough, detailed the persistent abuse he has faced from YouTuber Steven Crowder, who counts more than 3.8 million subscribers on the platform. In response to Maza's complaints, YouTube defended Crowder's comments by saying the criticisms were an example of debate, rather than harassment. It later appeared to backtrack somewhat, and said on Wednesday afternoon that it would suspend ads from the channel until Crowder removes a link to his merchandise store, where he sells T-shirts with slogans such as 'Socialism is for F*gs.' Scroll down for video YouTube is facing fresh criticism after it told a gay reporter that homophobic harassment he received from a conservative commentator doesn't violate its anti-harassment policies The firm said it arrived at this decision after it determined Crowder's channel had exhibited a 'pattern of egregious actions' against the broader YouTube community. YouTube also determined that the channel violated its Partner Program policies, though the firm didn't say the specific policies Crowder violated. 'In the past, we felt our responses to some of these situations were slow and didn't always address our broader community's concerns,' YouTube wrote in a blog post on Wednesday. 'Our ultimate goal here is to streamline our response so we can make better, faster decisions and communicate them clearly.' The decision comes a day after Maza shared a compilation video of clips from Crowder's show wherein he can be heard attacking the Vox host, calling him a 'gay Mexican,' 'little queer,' 'lispy sprite' and a 'token Vox gay atheist sprite.' 'These videos make a target of ridiculous harassment, and it makes my life sort of miserable,' Maza wrote in a tweet. 'I waste a lot of time blocking abusive Crowder fanboys, and this s*** derails your mental health. '...This has been going on for years, and I've tried to flag this s*** on several occasions. But YouTube is never going to actually enforce its policies. 'Because Crowder has 3 million YouTube subscribers, and enforcing their rules would get them accused of anti-conservative bias,' he added. After Maza detailed his situation publicly, he said he began receiving an influx of hateful messages from Crowder's viewers. YouTube's community guidelines state that it prohibits 'content that is deliberately posted in order to humiliate someone, makes hurtful and negative personal comments/videos about another person, or that incites others to harass or threaten individuals on or off YouTube.' In response to Maza's complaints, YouTube initially defended Crowder's comments by saying the criticisms were an example of debate, rather than harassment YouTube later appeared to backtrack somewhat, and said on Wednesday afternoon that it would suspend ads from the channel until Crowder removes a link to his merchandise store, where he sells T-shirts with slogans such as 'Socialism is for F*gs' WHAT ARE YOUTUBE'S HARASSMENT POLICIES? YouTube says it doesn't allow content or behavior meant to harass, threaten or bully others. It encourages users to report content or activity that they believe violate its policies. The site states it doesn't allow the following types of content: Revealing someone's personal info like their address, private email address, phone numbers, passport number or bank account information. Content deliberately intended to humiliate someone. Content that makes hurtful and negative personal comments/videos about another person. Content that incites others to harass or threaten individuals on or off YouTube. Content featuring non-consensual sex acts or unwanted sexualization. Content threatening specific individuals with physical harm or destruction of property. Content featuring abusive or threatening behavior directed at a minor. Sexualizing or degrading an individual who is engaged or present in an otherwise non-sexual content. Content claiming that specific victims of public violent incidents or their next of kin are actors, or that their experiences are false. Additionally, YouTube's hate speech policy bars 'content promoting violence or hatred against individuals or groups' for characteristics including ethnicity, race and sexual orientation. The site states that users also cannot use stereotypes that 'incite or promote hatred based on any' of these attributes, whether it be through speech, text, or imagery promoting 'these stereotypes or treating them as factual.' Despite this, in a response to Maza's tweets, YouTube said that Crowder's videos would be allowed to remain on the site. 'Our teams spent the last few days conducting an in-depth review of the videos flagged to us, and while we found language that was clearly hurtful, the videos as posted don't violate our policies,' YouTube https://twitter.com/TeamYouTube/status/1136055351885815808. 'As an open platform, it's crucial for us to allow everyone - from creators to journalists to late-night TV hosts - to express their opinions within the scope of our policies. 'Opinions can be deeply offensive, but if they don't violate our policies, they'll remain on our site,' the firm added. Earlier this week, Crowder posted a video arguing he was 'not in violation of policy guidelines.' In an extended statement to Gizmodo, a YouTube spokesperson said Crowder didn't instruct his viewers to harass Maza on other platforms. As a result, the firm determined that Crowder's videos were meant 'not to harass or threaten, but rather to respond to the opinion.' Many have since pointed out the hypocrisy of YouTube's ongoing LGBT Pride Month campaign. Carlos Maza (right), host of Vox's Strikethrough, detailed the abuse he has faced from YouTuber Steven Crowder (left), who counts more than 3.8 million subscribers on the platform YouTube has flip-flopped on its position as criticism builds over its handling of homophobic content. Crowder has since been de-monetized, but can get ads back if he removes a link to his merchandise store, where he sells T-shirts with slogans such as 'Socialism is for F*gs' YouTube's main Twitter account currently features the site's logo stylized to look like the LGBT flag, as well as a banner image for Pride Month. Following YouTube's statement, Maza's employer has called on YouTube to do more to protect LGBT users. 'By refusing to take a stand on hate speech, they allow the worst of their communities to hide behind cries of "free speech" and "fake news," all while increasingly targeting people with the most offensive and odious harassment,' Vox Media Publisher Melissa Bell said in a statement. 'They encourage their fans to follow suit and we now see our reporters and creators consistently targeted by the worst abuse online, with no remedy or ability to protect themselves.' All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility