YouTube strips back partnership with Logan Paul
January 11, 2018
YouTube on Wednesday said it would remove American video blogger Logan Paul from its Google Preferred platform and put future projects involving him on hold, after Paul uploaded a video of a suicide victim at a known suicide site in Japan to the platform.
Read more: YouTube's Logan Paul apologizes for posting suicide video
"In light of recent events, we have decided to remove Logan Paul's channels from Google Preferred. Additionally, we will not feature Logan in season 4 of 'Foursome' and his new Originals are on hold," YouTube, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., said in a statement.
In an open letter on Tuesday, YouTube had said Paul's video violated its guidelines and it was "looking at further consequences."
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The company said that it was "upset by the video that was shared last week," saying that "suicide is not a joke, nor should it ever be a driving force for views."
Google Preferred aggregates YouTube's top content into packages to sell to advertisers. Paul, 22, is one of YouTube's most popular personalities, with his videos drawing millions of views from a mainly youth-orientated audience. His channel, Logan Paul Vlogs, has more than 15 million subscribers.
He was also working on projects with YouTube's premier subscription service YouTube Red and had appeared in the platform's web series Foursome.
In December, Google said that it would try to increase the number of its employees who police extreme content across its internet services to more than 10,000.
Video was a 'huge mistake'
In a YouTube video last week, Paul apologized for posting the video that showed him and his friends laughing about the body they filmed hanging from a tree in Japan's Aokigahara forest near Mount Fuji, a site famous for the high number of suicides committed there.
Read more: YouTube beefs up policing of extremist content
Up to 105 annual suicides have been reported at the forest in the past, but the actual figure on suicides committed there is no longer publicized, and signs have been erected throughout the 30-square-kilometer (11.5-square-mile) woodlands aimed at discouraging people from killing themselves.
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In the apology video, Paul said he had made a "huge mistake" and was ashamed of himself. He deleted the video after receiving huge backlash from social media.
Paul had not posted any videos in the past week, saying he was "taking time to reflect."
His channel is still active on YouTube and advertisers have the option to choose if they want to advertise on his videos.
law/msh (AFP, Reuters)