YouTube banning, restricting videos in response to 'Bird Box challenge'

YouTube has announced that it is banning or restricting videos showing harmful or dangerous pranks in response to problems caused by fads like the so-called "Bird Box challenge."

News 12 Staff

Jan 17, 2019, 1:44 AM

Updated 1,927 days ago

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YouTube has announced that it is banning or restricting videos showing harmful or dangerous pranks in response to problems caused by fads like the so-called "Bird Box challenge."
In that challenge, people perform tasks while blindfolded, similar to the characters in the Netflix hit film. A teenager in Utah crashed her car while attempting the challenge.
It follows other popular "challenges" like ones that saw people setting themselves on fire or eating Tide Pod laundry detergent.
Google, YouTube's parent company, says any potentially lethal prank has no place on the site.
Jennifer Bohr-Cuevas, a clinical social worker, says the desire to be noticed is what makes those challenges popular, even the ones that put video uploaders in peril. She urges parents to use parental controls to keep tabs on their children's social media activity.
But some don't like the idea of what they consider censorship, including Daniel Graham, of Wantagh. He says censorship wouldn't "fly with the American people."
The rules regarding what is and isn't allowed on YouTube can be found within its community guidelines.


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