YouTube's CEO explains why the site hasn't banned Logan Paul over his recent controversies
- YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said at a media conference Monday that the controversial YouTube star Logan Paul hasn't violated enough policies to be banned from the platform.
- YouTube temporarily suspended paid advertising on Paul's page last week after he uploaded a video of himself tasering two dead rats.
- In January, Paul drew criticism for uploading footage of a dead body hanging in Japan's "suicide forest."
- Wojcicki said that suspending Paul's ad revenue was "actually a pretty strong statement."
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki explained at Recode's Code Media conference on Monday that the controversial YouTube star Logan Paul hasn't violated enough of the site's policies to get banned from the platform.
"When someone violates our policies three times, we terminate. We terminate accounts all the time," Wojcicki said. "He hasn't done anything that would cause those three strikes."
Paul, who first gained an audience on the defunct video platform Vine, has over 16 million followers on YouTube, where he posts vlogs and reaction videos.
Last week, YouTube temporarily suspended paid advertising on Paul's page and removed him from Google's Preferred Ads program after he uploaded a video of himself tasering two dead rats. The star made $12.5 million in 2017, according to Forbes, some of which came from YouTube ads.
In January, Paul drew immense criticism for filming and uploading a video of a dead body hanging in Japan's Aokigahara forest, known as the "suicide forest."
Instead of terminating Paul's account over his recent videos, Wojcicki said that suspending his ad revenue was "actually a pretty strong statement."
When asked if YouTube could be more strict in its policies, Wojcicki admitted that the site could potentially change its rules, while also cautioning against censorship.
"On the one side is censorship, and on the other side is too much freedom of speech," she said. "It's a complicated and very nuanced place where that line is drawn."