Logan Paul: YouTube says it is considering further consequences for star after 'suicide forest' video

The warning came as part of a long open letter of apology posted on the site's Twitter account

Andrew Griffin
Wednesday 10 January 2018 14:36 EST
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YouTuber Logan Paul uploads footage of dead body in forest in Japan

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YouTube is still considering further punishment against Logan Paul, the controversial YouTuber who posted a video of himself next to a dead body.

The warning came as part of a long open letter of apology the site posted on Twitter, intended at addressing the community's anger over both Mr Paul's "suicide video" as well as its approach to communication more generally.

Initially, the site had allowed the video to be uploaded despite the fact that it showed Mr Paul standing and laughing next to the corpse of a man who died by suicide. It appears that the video only went down because someone in control of Mr Paul's channel decided to remove it, amid a continuing backlash.

That controversy has led to Mr Paul posting no more videos as well as removing himself from other platforms. His father uploaded an Instagram post that appeared to suggest the star would be back online soon.

But YouTube suggested that Mr Paul's channel may be punished yet further. It didn't say what that would consist of, though YouTube has made films with the vlogger as well as promoting both him and his channel on the site.

The posts began under the heading "An open letter to our community" and continued through a series of tweets.

"Many of you have been frustrated with our lack of communication recently," they began. "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.

"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.'

"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.

"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."

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