YouTube offer statement against youth violence

Video sharing site YouTube release a statement to address youth violence

Popular user generated content (UGC) site YouTube, owned by Google, has released a statement on its official blog to condemn the use of their site for videos that depict violence and things of an illegal nature.

A YouTube spokesperson comments, ?Like you, we?re continually surprised, moved and entertained by the videos people post on YouTube.  And, like you, we?re occasionally dismayed when people use YouTube for less than positive purposes.?  To address the problem of such videos being uploaded, YouTube have amended their Community Guidelines and introduced changes to their flagging system to make it as simple and easy as possible for the YouTube community to flag videos they deem inappropriate.  

The YouTube team hope that changing the flag wording from ?minors fighting? to ?youth violence? will encourage users to become the ?eyes and ears? as they struggle to keep the number of these videos from escalating.  The blog states that over 13 hours of video are uploaded every minute, so it is not possible for them to review individual videos prior videos going live on the site ? therefore they are relying on the audience to become the ?first line of defence.?

This blog entry follows news in the UK media yesterday of a British motorcyclist being arrested and sentenced to twelve weeks in jail after racing his motorbike on public roads at speeds up to 130mph.  When he was stopped by police he questioned whether it was in relation to his YouTube videos, which the police located and then used against him as evidence of his crimes.

Also today, news breaks of a US policeman who has been assigned to desk duty while an internal investigation takes place after a video posted on YouTube showed the police officer using unfair force against a young man.

Last month, YouTube announced that the Community Guidelines had been updated after realising that it was not always clear for users on where YouTube drew the line on what content was appropriate and what was not.  They said at the time, ?We've updated the Community Guidelines to address some of the most common questions users ask us about inappropriate content. Included in the update are a few new things to steer clear of, like not directly inciting violence. In the UK and Ireland in particular, the specifics of this update essentially bar users from showing weapons in their videos with the express aim of intimidation ? so please bear that in mind.?