Funnily enough, it took me such a long time to talk about Remove Your Media flagging this blog for the wrong reason.

So, what took me so long to talk about it then?

Is it because it takes a long time for me to clear this blog from their overreaching hand?

Fortunately, it didn’t take that long to resolve the issue. A few email exchanges with their rep would do the trick.

It’s just that the reason why it took me this long is simply because I forgot about it.

And it doesn’t help that this incident took place when the blog was on hiatus.

So, it’s no wonder that this issue wasn’t even on my radar until not too long ago.

It all began with this email

Back then when the blog was still on hiatus, I received an email from my hosting’s legal department, threatening that they would shut down my website because of this one blog post on my website.

Not going to lie that it felt like a hoax at first.

Well, the email somehow reminded me of this email that I got days before, saying that this guy claiming to be from the CIA accused me of possessing child pornographic materials.

My sister laughed at me when I told her about this scam email.

Sad to say, the email that I received from my hosting’s legal department at that time was actually legit.

They threatened to shut down my website for real because of this one blog post.

The funny thing is that the blog post wasn’t even about anything malicious at all.

The accused blog post was talking about the Girlish Number anime.

What’s so scandalous about the blog post wasn’t something that I couldn’t comprehend at that time. But it sure is funny now that I think about it now.

What causes the blog post to get flagged in the first place

The problem with the email that I got is that they didn’t tell me anything about why they flagged the blog post.

The only thing they said in the email was which blog post that got flagged, nothing else.

While I did remove the blog post just to end this charade once and for all, it makes me wonder why they flagged the blog post in the first place.

With curiosity taking over me, I put on my detective hat to figure out the reason behind their action to flag the blog post.

Was it because of the image that I used in the blog post?

Yes, the image was promotional material for the Girlish Number anime. But if you’re talking about the images of that nature, they’re everywhere on my blog.

That post isn’t the only one that has promotional material in it.

Could it be the blog contains a link that leads to illegal websites?

The thing is the post doesn’t even contain any links at all, not even the affiliate links.

Yes, the updated version does contain a link to purchase my books on the Payhip store and a link to the Buy Me a Coffee page.

But back then, there was no link whatsoever on the blog post.

So, what got the blog post to get flagged then?

My money is on the word multimedia in the blog post title. That could be the reason why this good-for-nothing company was flagging the blog post.

Sorry, it was our mistake

Not long after I removed the blog post from my blog, I received an email from Remove Your Media saying that they flagged my blog by mistake.

They even allowed me to restore the blog post since the post didn’t violate the copyright.

While it was good to know that they apologized to me for their mistake, I find some parts of the email to be rather sketchy.

According to the rep, they already contacted my hosting and explained to them about the error.

But for some reason, the hosting ignored their request. They even lamented that this hosting company was notorious for ignoring the takedown notice removal.

Of course, I didn’t question their side of the story at first.

But when I think about it now, it doesn’t look to me that the legal department was aware of receiving any kind of takedown notice removal for my website.

For all I know, Remove Your Media wanted me to do the cleanup myself instead.

Were they that short-staffed to clean up the mess on their own?

Well, it could be. But another possible reason is that their method of flagging the websites went out of hand, causing it to flag thousands of innocent websites along the way.

That was a total nightmare to clean up if they have to do it manually if you ask me.

What does this situation say about Remove Your Media?

Judging from the way they handle things, I can only sum up that Remove Your Media never care to check the websites that they flagged have anything illegal or not.

They rely heavily on their algorithm to flag the content based on the keywords that illegal websites tend to use.

They then use the bots to send cease-and-desist letters and DMCA takedown notices to the hosting companies.

Just to be clear that this is only a speculation on my side. So, I can’t say for sure if it’s their MO.

But regardless of what they use to flag the websites, it’s clear that their MO is causing a handful of websites to get flagged for the wrong reason.

One of them is No Nonsense Anime Blog where the blog got flagged only because the article contained an episode and a numeral in the title.

It looks as if the website is an illegal anime downloading website even though it’s not.

And just like my Girlish Number blog post, none of the articles violate the copyrights and have no link to download and embedded videos.

But for some weird reason, it got flagged by Remove Your Media.

What you should do if you receive a cease-and-desist letter and DMCA takedown notice

My answer to this question is simple. Remove the content that got flagged by copyright infringement and move on with your life.

There’s no point in arguing with them.

You’re guilty until proven innocent.

But I didn’t do anything wrong

Sorry, buttercup. They don’t flag your content for no reason.

If your content is mainly about the Japanese and Korean entertainment industry, chances are they flag your content because it contains copyright materials.

Sad to say, these companies are notorious for coming after anyone who uses their artists’ images and promotional materials in their content.

And yes, even if they’re publicly available content such as the production company’s website.

The good news about Remove Your Media is that they will contact you if they flag you by mistake.

That was what happened to me when the rep from Remove Your Media contacted me and clarified to me that it was an error on their side.

But if they don’t contact you days after you receive the takedown notice, then it’s obvious you’re in the wrong here.

It’s not worth arguing with them

Yes, I get that some of you refused to back away without a fight.

You work so hard on your content only to receive a warning that you have to take it down.

But ask this question to yourself – is it worth your time and sanity to sacrifice your platform over the flagged content?

I’m not sure about you. But it sure isn’t worth the time especially when your action will jeopardize what you’ve built so far.

In my case, I have no issue with having to delete the blog post if it can save my website from being taken down by force.

And it preserves my sanity too which is just as important as keeping this website alive and well.

P.S. If you’re in the mood to read something that reflects the harsh reality of the world we live in and you enjoy reading light novels, then you may enjoy reading any of my books.

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Books by Sekina Mayu on Payhip

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But you can only get a discount if you buy the books on my Payhip store, though.