Updated 3.13pm - Added Zammit Dimech statement
Local YouTube content creators will soon be able to cash in on their work, with Google having finally agreed to add Malta to YouTube’s partner programme.
In a statement, YouTube said Malta would join the ad programme in September. The world's largest video platform is also launching a Malta-specific website, www,youtube.com.mt.
"We have heard loud and clear the requests from our local community in Malta," Google public policy manager Enrico Bellini said.
Talks between the government and Google began after the latter launched a Digital News Innovation Fund earlier this year. YouTube is owned by Google.
Digital Economy parliamentary secretary Silvio Schembri announced Google’s change of heart on Twitter, saying that he had worked “hand-in-hand” with the tech giant to include Malta in its list of countries eligible for advertising revenue.
Malta-based YouTubers have long complained that they are being excluded from advertising programmes, which grants content creators revenue based on the number of views their videos generate.
WATCH: This Maltese YouTuber has 50 million views on his channel
After working hand in hand with @Google I am pleased to announce that by end of this year Maltese citizens can start being paid for their videos on @YouTube . SShttps://t.co/cdw0g9JKJX
— Silvio Schembri (@SilvioSchembri) June 19, 2018
YouTube channels in partnership programme countries must have at least 1,000 subscribers and amass a minimum of 4,000 watch hours over the previous 12-month period to be eligible for advertising revenue.
The Prime Minister has been among those at least tacitly pushing YouTube to include Malta in its list of partnership programmes with Joseph Muscat adding his name to a change.org petition calling for the online video giant to carry out the change.
Creators Malta founder Fabian Borg, who led the civil drive for YouTube to shift policy, welcomed the decision, saying Maltese content creators would now be on a level playing field with others in the EU.
In between meetings several Maltese YouTubers have called me to express satisfaction with the news that we are a step closer in #Malta joining the YouTube Partnership Programme enabling creators to earn money from their videos. Thanks for all your feedback. pic.twitter.com/YuxmN4ouHI
— F Zammit Dimech (@FrancisZD) June 19, 2018
In a statement, MEP Francis Zammit Dimech expressed delight at YouTube’s decision, saying that the move would further promote local content creation and take Maltese YouTubers one step closer to getting aid for their work.
Dr Zammit Dimech, who had organised a training session for Malta’s YouTube community last March, also also thanked his MEP predecessor Therese Comodini Cachia for her work, noting that she had been active in pushing the issue during her time in the European Parliament.