YouTube still won’t axe gang videos

DOZENS of violent music videos remain on YouTube despite requests by police to delete them.

Scotland Yard has blamed social media for the rising murder rate in London, singling out the ‘drill’ genre of rap music for glamorising violent crime.

YouTube users can easily watch drill videos that feature masked gangs threatening each other with aggressive lyrics and gestures, with some attracting millions of views. The Met has built up a database of more than 1,400 videos in a bid to identify those involved and monitor tensions among rival gangs.

In the past two years, police have asked YouTube to take down up to 60 videos but they are forced to prove the clips are harmful first. The Google-owned site has only removed just over 30 where they were found to be in violation of its policies.

Met Commissioner Cressida Dick has linked drill videos to at least one attack, which she said describe stabbings with ‘great joy and excitement’. She said web giants had a ‘social responsibility’ to remove content that incites violence.

Some is associated with gangs linked to the murder of Tanesha Melbourne, 17, who was shot dead in Tottenham last month. YouTube said most of the videos flagged up by the Met are no longer available and that it has developed policies to tackle clips related to knife crime.