USA TODAY International Edition
Should children watch YouTube? Many say no
‘There is no filter when it comes to YouTube stars’
SAN FRANCISCO – Not safe for kids. That’s the label some parents are slapping on YouTube after vlogger Logan Paul blasted out a video of a suicide victim in the Aokigahara — the Japanese forest where dozens of bodies are discovered every year — to millions of his young followers.
“There is no filter when it comes to YouTube stars,” says Jill Murphy, editor in chief of Common Sense Media, a non-profit organization focused on education and advocacy for kids. “It’s not until something tragic is shown via a video, and viewers react, that the content is removed or dealt with by the platform.”
For years, dark corners of YouTube were declared off limits by concerned parents. Now it’s mainstream YouTube that’s setting off alarm bells, with Google’s hands-off approach to the billions of videos that flow through the streaming service and the growing influence of YouTube stars on teens, tweens and even younger kids.
Paul, 22, has built a mini digital empire out of his ability to hook young people on his onscreen antics. His daily videos, filled with pranks and stunts, routinely fetch more than 5 million views. And last year, thanks to his legions of “Logang” fans, he pocketed $12.5 million from advertising spots, merchandise sales and other sources of revenue, according to
Forbes magazine.
The suicide video Paul posted Sunday night attracted more than 6 million views and tens of thousands of likes before he took it down. Even his apology video trended on YouTube, ranking No. 1 on YouTube’s trending videos page for much of Tuesday and racking up millions of views.
“Parents need to be aware and the industry has to step up and do a better job of managing content being uploaded that people of all ages can see within seconds,” Murphy says.
YouTubers, who chase clicks with outlandish behavior, aren’t just catnip for kids. They’re the lifeblood of YouTube, paying off in billions of views and billions of advertising dollars. But some of YouTube’s biggest stars have also produced some of its worst moments.
Last year, Felix Kjellberg, a Swedish vlogger (video blogger) known as PewDiePie who has nearly 59 million followers and is very popular with young people, had his original YouTube Red series canceled after The Wall Street Journal reported on videos with racist language and anti-semitic imagery. YouTube also removed him from Google Preferred, which connects YouTube’s most popular stars with advertisers.
YouTube isn’t just having problems with content and its creators on YouTube. Its kids app, with more than 11 million weekly viewers, has been called out for videos containing disturbing themes and imagery that slip past the service’s algorithms and moderators.
So far there has been no commercial fallout for YouTube with big brands eager to reach young viewers, and analysts don’t expect any, though they say marketers are being more careful these days about where their ads run. In fact, YouTube is raising the rates it charges advertisers.
And controversy hasn’t reined in homegrown YouTube stars who angle for attention and advertising with videos that push boundaries, flout social norms and sensationalize tragedy.
Logan Paul and his brother Jake gained a following by making six-second videos for the now-defunct service Vine until they became so Internet famous that they dropped out of college and high school and moved to Los Angeles.
Both ranked as top earners among YouTube stars in 2017, according to
Forbes. Next to his younger bad boy brother, who also vlogs daily on his own YouTube channel, Logan Paul was the golden boy, cutting deals with big brands such as Doritos, Nike, Hanes, Pepsi and Dunkin’ Donuts.
That changed with the flood of criticism that greeted Sunday’s publication of the 15-minute suicide video as people fumed over Paul’s decision to show a body hanging from a tree and his comments after discovering it. He later apologized. “For my fans who are defending my actions, please don’t,” Paul said. “They do not deserve to be defended.”