YouTube is revising its guidelines for films featuring firearms in an attempt to prevent minors from seeing potentially harmful content, such as those featuring homemade firearms.
The Google-owned site announced in its revised policy that it will not allow videos showing people how to take off the safety mechanisms from firearms starting on June 18. Videos of automatic or handmade weaponry will also be blocked for users who are younger than 18.
There is a sizable community of “gunfluencers” on YouTube who frequently advertise guns and related gear.
Content that aims to sell firearms and accessories or instruct users on how to create their own has already been barred from the platform. Additionally, it forbids livestreams that depict someone handling or carrying firearms.
Although YouTube stated that “content doesn’t always violate” its guidelines, not all of its video is deemed “suitable for viewers under 18.” Videos of 3D-printed firearms, auto-firing accessories, and handcrafted silencers are among them.
The prohibitions only apply to the actual use of firearms; they do not apply to creative uses of firearms, such those in short films. Videos of news, police, or military footage that feature firearms and are of public interest are likewise exempt.
“These updates to our firearms policy are part of our continued efforts to maintain policies that reflect the current state of content on YouTube,” Javier Hernandez, a YouTube spokesperson, stated. “For example, 3D printing has become more readily available in recent years so we’re expanding our restrictions on content involving homemade firearms. We regularly review our guidelines and consult with outside experts to make sure we are drawing the line at the right place.”
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YouTube claimed that while creating new policy updates, it talks with outside experts like public safety or law enforcement professionals.
The announcement coincides with growing backlash against YouTube and other social media sites for their recent gun-related films.
According to a May 2023 study by the nonprofit Research Group for Accountability called Tech Transparency Project, which frequently exposes big tech companies, “YouTube’s algorithms are pushing boys interested in video games to scenes of school shootings, instructions on how to use and modify weapons.”
YouTube “for implementing these important commonsense fixes to their community guidelines, which will further limit dangerous videos and minimize firearm content for minors,” Bragg said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Gun violence tears at the fabric of our communities and has claimed far too many innocent lives, which is why combating gun violence and stopping the proliferation of illegal firearms and ghost guns remain my top priority,” Bragg stated. “We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to address illegal weapons in our communities.”
