Suicide is not a joke: YouTube responds to Logan Paul controversy

NEW DELHI: Over a week after YouTuber Logan Paul faced severe backlash for sharing an image of a suicide victim in a video, YouTube has finally released a statement saying they are pursuing ‘further consequences’ against Logan.

In a string of tweets, YouTube posted an apology in a series of tweets on their official Twitter page.

The company wrote, “An open letter to our community - 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. Like many others, we were upset by the video that was shared last week.”

An open letter to our community:

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.

— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018

Like many others, we were upset by the video that was shared last week.

— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018

The thread continued, “Suicide is not a joke, nor should it ever be a driving force for views. As Anna Akana put it perfectly – ‘That body was a person someone loved. You do not walk into a suicide forest with a camera and claim mental health awareness.”

Suicide is not a joke, nor should it ever be a driving force for views. As Anna Akana put it perfectly: "That body was a person someone loved. You do not walk into a suicide forest with a camera and claim mental health awareness."

— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018

The company also noted that the company is looking at further consequences as Logan’s channel violated their community guidelines.

We expect more of the creators who build their community on @YouTube, as we’re sure you do too. The channel violated our community guidelines, we acted accordingly, and we are looking at further consequences.

— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018

“It’s taken us a long time to respond, but we’ve been listening to everything you’ve been saying. We know that the actions of one creator can affect the entire community. So we’ll have more to share soon on steps we’re taking to ensure a video like this is never circulated again,” concluded YouTube.

It’s taken us a long time to respond, but we’ve been listening to everything you’ve been saying. We know that the actions of one creator can affect the entire community, so we’ll have more to share soon on steps we’re taking to ensure a video like this is never circulated again.

— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018

On January 1, Paul did apologise for the video while defending its creation as a way to “raise awareness for suicide and suicide prevention,” a comment that was quickly bashed on social media.

That prompted another apology from Paul the following day, this time on video.

“I have made a severe and continuous lapse in my judgment, and I don’t expect to be forgiven. I’m simply here to apologize,” a teary-eyed Paul said.

After that Paul tweeted that he was “taking time to reflect” and would not be making any new vlogs “for now.”