Youtuber Logan Paul slammed for ‘showing a corpse for views’

YouTubers have reacted angrily to a video posted by vlogger Logan Paul in which he showed the body of an apparent suicide victim in Japan. The video showed the American vlogger with friends at the Aokigahara forest at the base of Mount Fuji, known to be a frequent site of suicides.

After receiving a backlash on social media, Paul apologised for the “misguided” video, adding he was “ashamed” and “disappointed” in himself.

But several other high profile YouTubers have now criticised him.

How the YouTube community reacted

 PewDiePie is one of YouTube’s biggest names with 58 million subscribers. He posted a scathing video about Paul, saying it was “inappropriate and disrespectful” to show the body in the video.

 In an emotional video, McJuggerNuggets said the situation had become a “witchhunt bandwagon,” but added: “There are some things you should not do, and you need to have some respect for yourself and other people.”

 The grandson of YouTube personality AngryGrandpa, who originally set up the hugely popular channel to share his own grandfather’s comical rants, said he was a fan of Logan Paul’s work, but described the video as “incredibly stupid”.

 Video game vlogger Jacksepticeye, who has 17 million subscribers to his YouTube channel, criticised Paul in a series of tweets.

 In a video entitled “Open Letter to Logan Paul”, Boogie2988 told his four million subscribers: “I believe Logan had the best of intentions,” but described it as a “pretty disgusting video... it’s not the kind of stuff you should see on YouTube”.

 Thomas Ridgewell, who has 4.8 million YouTube subscribers on his channel Tomska, tweeted: “Not sure what’s worse: the degenerate creature who exploits a corpse for views, the platform that allows it, or the audience that overwhelmingly supports it (look at all those likes).”

 Nathan Zed described Paul’s video as “un-self aware” on social media and said he would post a video on his channel in the coming days recommending mental health charities for those who had been affected.

A YouTube spokesman told the BBC: “Our hearts go out to the family of the person featured in the video.

“YouTube prohibits violent or gory content posted in a shocking, sensational or disrespectful manner. If a video is graphic, it can only remain on the site when supported by appropriate educational or documentary information and in some cases it will be age-gated. 

“We partner with safety groups such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to provide educational resources that are incorporated in our YouTube Safety Centre.”

Stephen Jones, the social media editor for the Press Association, shared on Twitter a letter sent to him by a woman whose husband took his own life in 2008.

She told him Logan Paul’s video had traumatised her 13-year-old son.
“For children who have lost a parent, sibling or loved one to suicide, their pain has been made into a joke,” she said.

“Logan Paul should meet with families who have experienced suicide if he wants to make amends.”

Presenter and comedian Ed Petrie said: “Having spent 12 years working in kids TV (first Nickelodeon and then CBBC) and seeing the thought and care that goes into providing content for young people, there needs to be some serious questions asked about how You Tube functions.”

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- BBC