Logan Paul showed just how far someone will go in order to get hits on YouTube last week. Wandering into Japan’s notoriously heartbreaking Aokigahara forest, which is known as a spot where people go to kill themselves, Paul showed a man hanging from a tree, giggled, looked astonished, then joked about it to his nearby friends and fellow travelers. Including telling some kids in the parking lot to “not go over there” while laughing.
The backlash was swift, and Paul took the video down after it amassed a huge amount of views and hit the no. 10 trending spot on YouTube, where Paul posts daily and is one of the platform’s biggest stars. He apologized (twice), and now, after a week of silence, YouTube has responded in a strongly-worded five-tweet thread:
An open letter to our community:
Many of you have been frustrated with our lack of communication recently. You’re right to be. You deserve to know what's going on.
— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018
Like many others, we were upset by the video that was shared last week.
— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018
Suicide is not a joke, nor should it ever be a driving force for views. As Anna Akana put it perfectly: "That body was a person someone loved. You do not walk into a suicide forest with a camera and claim mental health awareness."
— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018
We expect more of the creators who build their community on @YouTube, as we’re sure you do too. The channel violated our community guidelines, we acted accordingly, and we are looking at further consequences.
— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018
It’s taken us a long time to respond, but we’ve been listening to everything you’ve been saying. We know that the actions of one creator can affect the entire community, so we’ll have more to share soon on steps we’re taking to ensure a video like this is never circulated again.
— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018
YouTube’s statement that they “acted accordingly” is what’s truly being focused on in this series of tweets. Not only did YouTube not take the video down, despite it violating their guidelines: “it’s not okay to post violent or gory content that’s primarily intended to be shocking, sensational, or disrespectful,” but people are wondering why Paul’s channel is still up.
No, YouTube didn't "act accordingly", Logan Paul took it down himself after it had been up for 24 hours. It was not removed by YouTube. In fact, YouTube initially reviewed it and deemed it safe to leave up without an age restriction. https://t.co/Xmpzbb5NCv
— Katie Notopoulos (@katienotopoulos) January 9, 2018
Additionally, Paul’s fans (and some detractors) continue to re-upload the video, showing the full scene in the guise of a “reaction video,” which is using YouTube’s rules against them.
https://twitter.com/JonasDoesArt/status/950867712414244864
https://twitter.com/Deligracy/status/950864729999785984
"The channel violated our community guidelines, we acted accordingly"
Me: …but…you didn't. pic.twitter.com/kdy4jXagkE
— Zᴀʟᴢᴀʀ (@ZalzarYoutube) January 9, 2018
So far, the critiques toward YouTube could become moot if they decide to take more tangible action against one of their biggest stars.