YouTube has banned DIY gun videos and videos which encourage the sale of firearms on their platform.
The site no longer allows content which, ‘Intends to sell firearms or certain firearms accessories through direct sales…or links to sites that sell these items’, according to updated restrictions.
The video sharing platform’s new policy also now states it will ban videos which show people how to manufacture firearms, ammunition, high capacity magazines, or even shows users how to install these accessories or modifications.
Of thousands of gun channels on YouTube, some vloggers have watched their videos be swiftly removed.
Jörg Sprave, a YouTuber who makes videos about slingshot weapons, told Motherboard:
Those [policies about firearms] are very new and causing some uproar in the communities.
As much as I appreciate they are now defining their guidelines much more clear…they have imposed this new rule without talking to anyone beforehand and there is no transitional period.
Sprave, who also wants to unionise YouTubers, concluded:
Many gun channels must now be afraid, as they might get plenty of strikes in no time for older videos and then lose their channels.
They should at least get some time to clean up their videos so the new rules are kept. Again, not the way you treat ‘partners.’
Popular channel, Spike Tactical has been hit by the ban and responded less eloquently:
Of the ban, a YouTube spokesperson told Tubefilter:
While we’ve long prohibited the sale of firearms, we recently notified creators of updates we will be making around content, promoting the sale or manufacture of firearms and their accessories, specifically, items like ammunition, gatling triggers, and drop-in auto sears.
We will begin enforcing these new guidelines next month. We recommend creators take a look at our Help Center and review their own content during that time.
The new ban comes after many Americans have championed an anti-gun movement stronger and more determined than any before.
Many anti-gun campaigners credit the renewed public outcry to students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who were victimised by a shooting on the grounds in Parkland, Florida which left 17 people dead.
You can watch Emma Gonzales’ share her anti-call to arms below:
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Since the shooting, WalMart stopped selling guns to anyone under 21, and Dick’s Sporting Goods Store has banned the sale of assault rifles in store.
The state of Oregon have also expanded an existing law to prevent intimate partners, who have a domestic violence or stalking conviction, from buying and keeping guns.
Yet the events in Florida and the subsequent social media changes aren’t new. This isn’t the first time YouTube have cracked down on videos depicting gun tutorials and firearm promotion.
After the Las Vegas shooting on October 1 2017, which killed 56 festival-goers, it banned videos showing how to install bump stocks on assault rifles.
However, a quick search on YouTube shows many videos of this nature still exist on the platform, as well as hundreds of tutorial videos for making napalm, dynamite, and even one showing how to assemble an assault rifle from 3D printed parts.
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A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.