Brock Nelson, a 12-year-old food reviewer, lost access to his popular YouTube channel due to an age verification issue.<\/p>\n
HOUSTON \u2014 For 12-year-old Brock Nelson, food reviews were more than a hobby; they were his passion.<\/p>\n
From his family\u2019s home in north Houston, Brock built a loyal YouTube following under the channel Bangin\u2019 with Brock, serving up funny, high-energy reviews of everything from spicy ramen to fast-food burgers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt blew up instantly, in the first ten minutes, it was 10,000 views already,\u201d Brock said about one of his earliest videos.<\/p>\n
In just a year, his channel gained more than 80,000 subscribers. But a few months ago, that success came to a halt when Brock was suddenly locked out of his account.<\/p>\n
Brock\u2019s parents, Kristine and Harith Nelson, said they were shocked when YouTube sent a message saying the account could be disabled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw the notification that his account was going to be shut down if we couldn\u2019t verify his age of being 13 or older,\u201d Kristine said.<\/p>\n
At first, YouTube flagged the account because Brock was underage. Later, the issue became verifying parental supervision, even though the Nelsons say their email was linked to help manage it.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor him to get monetized, we had to show we were his parents and were monitoring it,\u201d Harith said. \u201cWe thought that would cover everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
A YouTube spokesperson told KHOU 11 the channel had only been hidden, and that ownership could be transferred to Brock\u2019s parents, but the family says they\u2019re still waiting for that fix.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of back and forth,\u201d Harith said. \u201cYou get instructions, but the instructions don\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the setback, Brock is already planning his next move. With his 13th birthday just weeks away, he\u2019s preparing to launch a new version of his channel, complete with upgraded equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was devastated,\u201d Brock said. \u201cBut I already had a plan to make another one or do something better.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Nelsons have launched an online fundraiser<\/a> to help him get new gear and rebuild his channel from scratch.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re coming back bigger and better, if you can believe it, you can achieve it,\u201d Brock said.<\/p>\n If your kids are creating content online, YouTube recommends setting up parental supervision<\/a> to ensure they\u2019re in compliance. Parents can do this by linking their account to their child\u2019s through the platform\u2019s Family Center settings.<\/p>\n