YouTube shows gun videos to minors despite new policy, report shows – BNN Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — YouTube said in June that minors would no longer see videos promoting how to build firearms, but minors can still easily access those videos, according to the Tech Transparency Project.

A test account posing as a 14-year-old was shown videos on YouTube featuring Glock switches, 3D printing of firearms and homemade silencers – all content that the video app wanted to protect from being viewed by minors, according to the report by TTP, a research arm of the nonprofit Campaign for Accountability.

Alphabet Inc.'s YouTube has made several changes to its approach to gun videos and the community that wants to watch and create them (known as GunTubers). In 2018, the company banned many GunTubers from showing ads, but later reversed course. Striking the balance is tricky; gun industry groups warn that such measures could limit free speech, and even gun safety advocates say YouTube videos can play an important role in raising awareness about proper firearm storage.

Yet government officials are increasingly raising alarm about the role YouTube can play in influencing young people.

YouTube's policy change earlier this year came after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg urged the company to increase moderation of gun-related content shown to minors. An 18-year-old gunman who opened fire in a Buffalo, New York, supermarket in 2022, killing 10 people, was caught using YouTube videos to plan his attack. The issue was brought back into the spotlight during the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in July – when 20-year-old gunman Thomas Crooks wore a T-shirt with the logo of a popular YouTube gun channel, Demolition Ranch.

“We learned directly through our investigations that its algorithm is driving young people into the world of illegal and 3D-printed firearms,” ​​Bragg said in a statement to Bloomberg. “These videos are now having a concrete impact on the public safety of our communities, and it is paramount that the company takes strong action to further restrict access.” YouTube said its policy, changed in June, was developed over the course of several months in consultation with outside experts, adding that enforcement would take time to gain momentum. Javier Hernandez, a YouTube spokesman, said the company would review the TTP report and act as needed. “We have a robust set of policies governing what types of firearms content can appear on YouTube and monetize it, as well as policies around what young viewers can see,” Hernandez said in a statement. “And we update these over time to reflect the current situation, as we did earlier this year.” To test enforcement of YouTube's policies, the TTP created a YouTube profile for a 14-year-old user earlier this month and conducted a series of searches for gun content on Aug. 7. When the user typed in “Glock,” a popular semi-automatic pistol, YouTube suggested a search for “Glock switch.” The top result was a video titled “G17 with drum and switch ????” The user was able to watch the video without restrictions, despite YouTube's promise to keep such content away from minors. Among the results, only one video was blocked, the TTP said.

In response to another query, once the account started typing “how to 3d,” YouTube suggested “how to 3d print a glock switch.” A video shown among the results, part of the YouTube Shorts feature the service promotes as a rival to TikTok, offered 3D-printed switches for $135.

Researchers also found videos in which gun retailer Duke's Sports Shop displayed the site's website and phone number, despite YouTube's policies prohibiting the sale of guns on the platform. One video included a button that allowed users to purchase an animation – one of the ways YouTube lets video creators earn money from their fans. YouTube receives 30 percent of those sales.

Other videos included advertisements for well-known advertisers such as Intuit Inc.'s Credit Karma and Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign, which supports gun safety. Duke and Harris' campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

“YouTube is profiting from its failure to enforce its own gun laws,” said TTP Director Katie Paul.

Still, some gun industry groups are concerned about the rules YouTube has already implemented. “YouTube's decision to censor firearms-related content is shortsighted,” wrote Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry lobbying group, in an email. “They deny access to safety-related content that we should be providing to those who want to pass on America's heritage and tradition of legal and responsible gun ownership to the next generation.”

YouTube has made some progress in curbing the spread of content that activists consider dangerous. Videos showing how to make ghost guns are less common on the platform today than they were a few years ago, says Justin Wagner, director of investigations at the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety, which is funded by Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

“For us, this is clear evidence that they can do this content moderation if they want to,” Wagner said. “It's just a matter of them dedicating the resources to do it.”

– With assistance from Mark Bergen and Andrew Pollack.

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