After months of complaints from advertisers over their messages appearing alongside inappropriate or exploitative videos, YouTube has announced a new set of policies designed to improve how it vets content.

The Google-owned company is targeting problems at multiple levels within its platform, starting with its homegrown stars. Creators who start to grow audiences on YouTube have long been able to join the YouTube Partner Program to monetize their videos through advertising. Beginning Tuesday, YouTube is tightening its control over who can join the Partner Program. New creators applying will need to accrue at least 4,000 hours of watch time within the last 12 months and have at least 1,000 subscribers. (Previously, the only requirement was that a channel reach 10,000 viewers.) Existing channels will become subject to the same new set of Partner Program requirements on Feb. 20.

Billboard

This is really going to hurt the small creators who really have not done anything to YouTube.