After a YouTube video apparently showing a suicide victim was posted by Logan Paul last week, the video service has penned an open letter addressing the incident, promising to take action.
“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,” the YouTube Twitter account posted Tuesday (Jan. 9). “Like many others, we were upset by the video that was shared last week. Suicide is not a joke, nor should it ever be a driving force for views.”
Late last month, Paul posted a video from Japan’s Aokigahara forest — nicknamed “suicide forest” — appearing to show a dead body hanging from a tree. Following the video, many petitioned for the site to terminate Paul’s channel, which has 15 million subscribers.
“The channel violated our community guidelines, we acted accordingly, and we are looking at further consequences,” the site added. “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.”
As of now, Logan Paul’s Youtube channel is still active, but the video has since been deleted. Check out YouTube’s entire statement below.
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