Comments are turned off on YouTube? You aren't alone

In the past 1-2 days, I am seeing a significant increase in reports wherein YouTube users say they can’t access the comments section of any video on the platform. Specifically, when they scroll past the video area, they are greeted by a “comments are turned off” text where otherwise the page shows user comments.

Not just disabled comments, some users are complaining about missing descriptions as well:

To give you an idea on the gravity of the situation, there are tens of Reddit discussions on this topic from just past 24-48 hours hours alone. The following screenshot should give you at least some idea of what I am talking about:

Aside from Reddit, I am seeing reports on X too:

https://x.com/UnEteronef/status/2022571041466286196

Needless to say, the problem is reasonably widespread at the moment, and is being reported across browsers (Edge, Chrome, Brave, etc). So, why is this happening and when it will be fixed? Well, there’s currently no info on ‘why’ and ‘when’, but I did manage to find out some workarounds that have worked for some users.

The first workaround that seems to have worked for multiple users is refreshing the page whenever you encounter this comments issue. For example, in the following screenshot of a Reddit discussion on this topic, the OP themselves showed how refreshing the page brought back the comments.

However, it hasn’t worked for everyone who tried. So, your mileage may vary. But there’s no harm in giving it a try. The second workaround is to turn off adblocker (if you are using any). This workaround seems to have worked for comparatively more users.

Naturally, many users are labelling this as yet another anti-adblocker measure from YouTube. However, there’s no way to confirm this at the moment as YouTube hasn’t officially commented on the situation anywhere so far. However, I won’t rule out the possibility as YouTube has indeed been taking many anti-adblock measures for quite sometime now.

I am keeping a tab on the situation and will update the article as and when there’s something to share. Meanwhile, are YouTube comments not showing up for you as well? Do share with us your experience on this front.

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