YouTube clips that depict dangerous or emotionally distressing “pranks” have been banned from the platform.

The move comes in response to so-called “challenges” that have sometimes resulted in death or injury.

The Google-owned video sharing site said such material had “no place on YouTube”.

However, the firm appears to be failing to enforce its existing rules on harmful content.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-46887666

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YouTube bans dangerous pranks after Bird Box challenge
YouTube has banned creators from depicting “dangerous challenges and pranks”, after a wave of incidents prompted by a viral challenge involving driving blindfolded pushed it to act.

The so-called Bird Box challenge, inspired by the Netflix film of the same name, saw YouTubers imitating scenes from the movie in which characters must perform common tasks while blindfolded. A culture of one-upmanship meant that rapidly progressed to online celebrities such as Jake Paul walking through traffic and driving their cars while unable to see, leading to a Utah teenager crashing her car into oncoming traffic repeating the stunt.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/16/youtube-bans-dangerous-pranks-after-bird-box-challenge

YouTube Bans Risky Prank Videos Amid Spate of ‘Bird Box’ Challenge Stunts
Scenes of pranks ranging from silly to hazardous have long been among YouTube’s most popular offerings. Now, after multiple reports of people putting themselves or others at risk by copying some of those stunts, the video-sharing service is clamping down on content that, in its view, depicts “dangerous challenges and pranks.”

On Tuesday, YouTube, a unit of Google, updated its policies “to make it clear” that challenges “that can cause death and/or have caused death in some instances,” pranks “with a perceived danger of serious physical injury” and anything that causes “children severe emotional distress” are not allowed on the site.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/business/youtube-bans-pranks.html