YouTube has finally taken a stand and has released a statement regarding vlogger Logan Paul and his controversial video in Japan’s “suicide forest.”
Tuesday, YouTube took to Twitter to release their official statement with their 15 million followers. The company expressed that it is upset about the video and is searching for ways to ensure videos in that nature never make it to the video-sharing website.
The video in question was published on Dec. 31 and seen Paul walking through Aokigahara Forest in Japan, which is known as "suicide forest." While walking the grounds with friends Paul spots a body hanging from a tree and walks to it and examines the situation up close.
YouTube also condemned Paul’s actions and stated that suicide should never be used as a joke or a means for viewership.
See the full 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
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
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
The Consequences
YouTube did not clarify what consequences Paul will see for posting the video, but many users are calling for a ban from the video-sharing service. A petition on Change.org demanded that Paul's YouTube channel be deleted. At the moment the petition has over 450,000 signatures.
However, Paul took it upon himself to step away from publishing videos for some time. Paul has issued two statements in which he apologizes and talks about the goals of the video, saying he was hoping to raise awareness for suicide prevention.
The first video prompted another apology from Paul, where he commented on his severe lapse of judgment and doesn’t expect forgiveness.
So sorry. pic.twitter.com/JkYXzYsrLX — Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) January 2, 2018
