TIME — YouTube is changing its policies about firearm videos in an effort to keep potentially dangerous content from reaching underage users. The video sharing platform owned by Google said Wednesday it will prohibit any videos demonstrating how to remove firearm safety devices. In addition, videos showing homemade guns, automatic weapons and certain firearm accessories like silencers will be restricted to users 18 and older.
The changes take effect June 18 and come after gun safety advocates have repeatedly called on the platform to do more to ensure gun videos aren’t making their way to the site’s youngest users, potentially traumatizing children or sending them down dark paths of extremism and violence. Katie Paul, director of the Tech Transparency Project, said the change was welcome news and a step in the right direction. But she questioned why the platform took so long to issue a new policy, and said her group will look to see how effectively YouTube enforces its new rule.
“Firearms are the number one cause of death for children and teens in America,” said Paul, whose group has long sought stronger age controls on online gun videos. “As always with YouTube, the real proof of change is whether the company enforces the policies it has on the books. Until YouTube takes real action to prevent videos about guns and gun violence from reaching minors, its policies remain empty words.”
Last year, researchers at Paul’s group created YouTube accounts that mimicked the behavior of 9-year-old American boys with a stated interest in video games. The researchers found that YouTube’s recommendations system forwarded these accounts graphic videos of school shootings, tactical gun training videos and how-to instructions on making firearms fully automatic.
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