While one month has passed since YouTuber Logan Paul came under fire for posting a highly disturbing vlog taken in the Aokigahara forest of Japan, the conversation about this incident has not yet quieted down. On December 31st, Paul uploaded a vlog he shot in “suicide forest,” in which he came across the body of a man who tragically appeared to have recently hanged himself. Instead of shutting off the camera, he continued filming, capturing his own seemingly amused reaction and even going so far as to crack jokes at the scene. He even included a blurred-out image of the man in the video’s thumbnail.
Even though the vlog was quickly taken down, the damage was still done. People were angry, and rightfully so, both at Logan Paul for treating suicide so callously and disrespectfully, and at YouTube for allowing this vlog to be posted and for not taking action sooner. While the disgust and anger being directed towards Paul is rightfully earned, I don’t think it is fair to be just as angry with YouTube.
Make no mistake; YouTube did mishandle this situation in many ways. For 24 hours after the vlog went up, it was featured on YouTube’s trending page before it was finally removed. Despite the uproar the video caused in the days that followed, it was not until a week after the vlog was posted, that YouTube finally gave a statement on the issue. YouTube apologized for not responding quicker and soon after punished Paul by formally breaking all ties with the vlogger. For many people, this was too little too late. Many have continued to criticize YouTube and their failure to remove the video in a fast manner as well as their lack of communication with viewers over the controversy. To a point, that frustration is justifiable. Despite YouTube’s slowness to remedy this situation, I do not think that makes them entirely responsible for it.
One criticism is that YouTube should not have allowed this video to be uploaded in the first place. This critique has been directed towards YouTube many times before, as just last year thousands of inappropriate videos were discovered on YouTube Kids and had to be taken down. Videos such as these can be uploaded due to the unique nature of the platform. Ever since its conception, YouTube has been a platform that encourages the concept of freedom of speech, ideas, and creativity. This means that anyone is able to upload a video and reach an audience with whatever message and ideas they are passionate about. Yes, this has allowed people like Logan Paul to upload videos that promote toxicity and hate, but it has also opened the doors for thousands of creative individuals to have a safe space to share their honest and uncensored opinions. As someone who is a strong proponent of freedom of speech, I think it is unfair to say that YouTube is responsible for creating Logan Paul. While YouTube has allowed him to use his platform, I believe that their intentions to allow anyone to freely put themselves out there are admirable and are not the root of this problem.
So instead of blaming YouTube for supporting Logan Paul, I think there is someone else who should be held accountable for promoting Paul: the viewers. In the short time that Paul’s vlog was up, it obtained millions of views reaching the trending page. While many of those views were most likely from people who had never before heard of Paul and were watching it simply because of the controversy surrounding it, I am sure that the majority of those views came from his loyal fan base. Dubbed the “Logang,” these 15 million subscribers to Paul’s channel are responsible for helping all of his vlogs, many of which promote problematic content such as dangerous stunts and sexist attitudes, obtain equal numbers of views every day. And despite the backlash surrounding Paul’s suicide forest vlog, his channel actually gained over 400,000 subscribers instead of losing them. No matter what consequences Paul received from YouTube, these numbers show that people still support him, but not just any people – kids.
Much of the anger and backlash towards this video has come from adults, while the children and teens that make up most of Paul’s fan base still support and admire him despite this. Even Paul had to ask his fans not to defend him after many of his young supporters took to social media to stand up for him. These are the people who created Logan Paul, not YouTube – kids who are impressionable and naïve and who only see Logan Paul as their daring and cool hero, not the arrogant, immature, and irresponsible man he really is. The reason I think that Paul and others like him gain such popularity is not because YouTube has allowed them to use their platform, but rather, the children who continue to click on their videos because the adults in their lives have yet told them they should not watch this kind of material.
As someone who hopes to have children someday, it is concerning to me that there are so many young minds that are being shaped and influenced by people like Logan Paul. It is good that Paul is being held responsible for his actions, but at the same time, it is crucial that his main audience, kids and young teens, understand what he has done. They ought to understand why we should not be supporting people like him who abuse our privilege of free speech by creating disrespectful and distressing content. Otherwise, Paul and others like him will continue to grow and be supported no matter how much controversy they find themselves in. The next generations that are raised will be responsible for taking care of and running our world. It is up to us to insure that they are influenced by creators who will inspire them to be responsible, respectful, and caring. Even if you do not have children of your own, there are still young people in your life who look up to you. You can encourage young people to understand that we should not support people like Paul. Instead of placing all the blame on YouTube, let’s take some responsibility on ourselves for allowing Logan Paul to influence the kids in our lives and help them understand why they should stop clicking on his videos. Maybe then, next time if something similar occurs, the YouTuber will lose subscribers instead of gaining them and face real, lasting consequences.
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