Empower Network CEO David Wood warned on January 28th that his company would sue groups flagging its videos on YouTube. The threat came after numerous Empower Network affiliate accounts were terminated by YouTube, with video removals beginning in mid-to-late January. Affiliates reported their content being flagged as spam.

YouTube began removing videos about Empower Network or those featuring links to Empower Network blogs in their descriptions. This action began sometime between mid to late January. What initially appeared as an isolated incident, with one affiliate's account ban discussed on Google product forums, quickly grew into a widespread problem for the company's promoters.

An Empower Network blog post dated January 24th detailed one affiliate's experience. The writer noted an increase in flagged and removed Empower Network videos, asking "Is there someone maliciously flagging Empower Network videos on YouTube?" They stated two of their three videos were "under attack" and facing appeals. The appeal was later denied, with YouTube citing "spam." The affiliate observed that their third video, which linked to a capture page instead of directly to an Empower Network blog post, remained unaffected. This led them to suspect YouTube might have specifically flagged direct Empower Network blog domains.

Other affiliates confirmed similar issues. Comments on the blog post included "Mine got banned 3 days ago" and "My account was terminated 2 days ago after 4 years." Facebook groups also filled with Empower Network affiliates discussing account bans and video deletions. "Mine were deleted as well," one user wrote. Another added, "My account was terminated." The Google product forums showed a surge in new threads from affiliates whose YouTube accounts had been terminated.

In response to these platform actions, David Wood issued his "big scary warning" on Facebook. He stated that an "organized group" was flagging Empower Network videos, claiming these videos were "not even remotely breaking Youtube terms." Wood concluded his post by saying, "I'm in the process of having lawyers research into whether or not we can sue the shit out of you."

Wood's statement indicated a readiness to pursue legal action against those he believed were maliciously targeting Empower Network content creators.