YouTube Apologizes For Its Late Response to Logan Paul's Video; Removes Channel From 'Google Preferred'
After facing online backlash, YouTube has finally issued a statement apologizing for its late response on Logan Paul's controversial video and confirmed that his channel has been removed from the Google Preferred lineup.
YouTube posted an open letter through a series of tweets to address the issue. "Many of you have been frustrated with our lack of communication recently. You're right to be. You deserve to know what's going on," the video-sharing site said.
Netizens recently called out Paul after he posted a video taken from Aokigahara park in Japan, which is commonly known as "Suicide Forest" among tourists. At the time they were filming, the YouTuber and his group encountered a body hanging from a tree from an apparent suicide incident. They continued to film and even showed the body briefly.
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Despite his having issued an apology letter and video, many people still criticized Paul and argued that it was highly inappropriate of him to continue filming the victim and later making the clip the video's thumbnail.
Meanwhile, the netizens also went after YouTube's alleged lack of action since it allowed the video to gather over six million views. Many have also pointed out that the video was, in fact, taken down voluntarily by Paul and not by YouTube.
In its open letter, YouTube expressed that it was equally "upset" by Paul's video. It reiterated that suicide was not a laughing matter and added that it should not be "a driving force for views."
The technology company also shared something that American-Japanese YouTuber Anna Akana said. She noted: "That body was a person someone loved. You do not walk into a suicide forest with a camera and claim mental health awareness."
Ultimately, YouTube stated that Paul's video "violated" the platform's community guidelines and confirmed that it was "looking at further consequences."
Meanwhile, the video-sharing site confirmed that it had removed Paul's channel from its Google Preferred platform, which therefore excluded it from the lineup of famous channels for blue-chip advertisers.
While YouTube admitted in its statement that it had "taken [them] a long time to respond" on the issue, the company did not divulge the reason behind the wait.
Paul currently has over 15.7 million subscribers on his YouTube channel.
