Fez – In recent days, some YouTube Premium Family users have received emails warning that their access will be paused if they are not residing at the same address as the plan manager.
The company reiterated its policy that all members of a Family plan must “live within the same residential address as the family manager.”
The warnings mark a shift in enforcement for the platform, which had these rules in place for years but had rarely acted on them.
According to tech reports, YouTube is now using IP address tracking over a 30-day window to determine if members are accessing accounts outside the primary household.
One user reported receiving an email titled “Your YouTube Premium family membership will be paused,” stating they had 14 days before Premium access would be suspended. The user would still be part of the Family group but lose ad-free and offline viewing features.
The move is expected to affect users worldwide, particularly those who share plans with family or friends living abroad. In countries like Morocco, where families often include members living overseas—especially in Europe or North America—the crackdown may lead to canceled or downgraded subscriptions.
This policy follows similar changes by Netflix, which saw a rise in paid subscriptions after limiting account sharing. YouTube appears to be encouraging users to shift toward its newer two-person Premium plans or purchase individual memberships.
In 2023, YouTube removed the option to share billing addresses as a workaround for family plans. With this stricter enforcement now underway, more users can expect similar warnings if they do not periodically log in from the registered household location.
YouTube has provided contact options for users to dispute the warning if they believe it was issued in error. As digital platforms tighten access rules, global users will have to rethink how they manage shared subscriptions across homes and borders.
MWN will continue to monitor the situation for updates and user reactions, especially within the Moroccan diaspora.
