London mayor Sadiq Khan has criticised Google’s YouTube after it failed to take down four violent gang videos describing killing methods and threatening rivals, which were flagged by police.
The videos reportedly show gang members waving a large Rambo-style knife as they attempt to goad rivals. The videos have been watched more than 356,000 times and have not been removed despite YouTube’s terms saying it takes “threats, harassment, intimidation (and) inciting others to commit violent acts” seriously.
Despite the Metropolitan police providing YouTube with “detailed context” the video host said the videos did not breach its guidelines. Google recently said it would begin enforcing tougher standards on videos that could be deemed objectionable, but are not illegal, “in the coming weeks”.
Khan warned social media companies to remove violent content that glorifies knife crime, saying their current policies “do not go far enough”.
“Google, YouTube and other platforms have a responsibility to the millions of young people using their sites every day, and it is vital that they toughen up their guidelines, remove breaches immediately and work with partners to help ensure such horrific videos do not reappear. Lives could depend on it,” said Khan. “Social media and the internet can be used to inflame tensions and escalate violence quicker than ever before, and these videos are a shocking example of the glamorisation of gang culture.”
Gun crime in London increased by 42% between 2014/15 and 2015/16 and knife crime by 24%.
Similar violent videos helped convict four men for the murder of 18-year-old Marcel Addai in September 2015, and have been used in other successful prosecutions.
Claire Hubberstey, chief executive of Safer London, a charity working to prevent gang violence, said the videos were “highly dangerous” and pose a “significant risk to those who appear in them”.
She said: “Such content contributes to young people feeling unsafe and increases the likelihood of them arming themselves as a result.
“It is essential that large corporations identify their role in safeguarding young people and commit to strict guidelines around their online content to help reduce this risk.”
A YouTube spokesperson said: “While YouTube is a platform for free and creative expression, we strictly prohibit videos that are abusive or that promote violence and we have policy specialists that speak multiple languages based in counties and time zones around the world to review and remove flagged content that breaks our rules.
“We work closely with organisations like the Metropolitan police to understand local context and specifically, so that we can understand where artistic expression escalates into real threats. We’re committed to continuing and improving our work on this issue and making YouTube a hostile space for those who seek to do harm.”
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