YouTube will restrict some content about firearms to young users

YouTube will begin restricting some gun content for young users later this month, the platform said in a statement. new notice.

From June 18th, content that shows the use of homemade firearms, automatic firearms and some accessories, such as those that can simulate or carry out automatic fire, will be age restricted.

Some content that shows how to remove safety devices, such as stationary chargers, will also be prohibited under the new rules.

“These updates to our firearms policy are part of our ongoing efforts to maintain policies that reflect the current state of content on YouTube,” spokesman Javier Hernandez said in a statement.

“For example, 3D printing has become more available in recent years, so we are expanding our restrictions on content involving homemade firearms,” he added. “We regularly review our guidelines and consult with outside experts to ensure we are drawing the line in the right place.”

The Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a Big Tech watchdog group, praised the move as a “step in the right direction” but also questioned “why it took the company so long to resolve the issue.”

“As always with YouTube, the real proof of change is whether the company enforces the policies it has on the books,” TTP director Katie Paul said in a statement. “Until YouTube takes real action to prevent videos about guns and gun violence from reaching minors, its policies will remain empty words.”

A TTP Report last year found that YouTube recommended videos about guns and gun violence, including videos about how to convert guns into automatic weapons, to accounts of boys interested in video games.

Concerns about the role of technology companies and video game retailers in introducing young people to violence and guns are at the center of two lawsuits recently filed against Meta, Activision Blizzard and Daniel Defense.

Last month, families of victims of the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, sued the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, the publisher of the “Call of Duty” video game and the gun manufacturer that made the AR-15. used. in the massacre.

The families allege that the companies are grooming “a generation of young men who are socially vulnerable, insecure about their masculinity and eager to show strength and assert dominance.”

“To be more precise: Defendants are chewing up alienated teenagers and spitting out mass shooters,” one of the complaints reads.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story