YouTube has announced sanctions against one of the platform’s biggest stars and idiots Logan Paul. The Google-owned streaming service removed Paul from its Google Preferred advertising program, which offers higher pay rates to the platform’s top creators, and issued Paul a strike for violating community policy. (Three strikes within a three-month period prompts YouTube to terminate your account.) YouTube also cut the 22-year-old vlogger from the upcoming fourth season of its original YouTube Red television series Fearsome, and placed future projects with Paul, including a planned sequel to the sci-fi movie The Thinning, on hold.
The decision comes 11 days after Paul, older brother of fellow YouTube celebrity Jake, posted footage of himself narrating the discovery of a dead body in Japan’s Aokigahara forest, an internationally known suicide site, where Paul planned to film a ghost-hunting parody video. After discovering the body, which was blurred out in the since-deleted video, Paul called, “Yo, are you alive? Are you fucking with us?” The video was met with outrage online and Paul removed it within 24 hours, at which point it had accumulated millions of views. Paul subsequently apologized and temporarily suspended his vlog.
YouTube issued a vague statement yesterday that stated Paul’s video violated the platform’s community guidelines, but declined to clarify which or issue any form of punishment. “Like many others, we were upset by the video that was shared last week,” the company wrote on Twitter. “Suicide is not a joke, nor should it ever be a driving force for views.”
Like many others, we were upset by the video that was shared last week.
— 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
“I’m often reminded of how big of a reach I truly have & with great power comes great responsibility,” Paul wrote in an apology letter one day after posting the video. “For the first time in my life I’m regretful to say I handled that power incorrectly. It won’t happen again.” A day later, he posted a second apology in the form of a vlog.
Dear Internet, pic.twitter.com/42OCDBhiWg
— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) January 2, 2018
Paul has over 15 million subscribers on YouTube. His brother Jake, who was profiled by The New York Times in December, has over 13 million subscribers. Paul has also appeared on the NBC series Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, the Fox series Weird Loners, and the Freeform series Stitchers.
