Editorial: the reckless actions of Logan Paul
Youtube Screenshot by Clare Dentner
YOUTUBE- Vlogger Logan Paul is captured during his second formal apology that he uploaded to his Youtube Channel.
Social media outlets and Youtube have given a platform to questionable role models for today’s youth. The Paul brothers, Logan and Jake, have not been shy from the spotlight that Vine and Youtube have given them. Few adults recognize their names, yet they have grown to each have millions of fans and followers. This popularity is largely due to their large tween fanbase. Jake Paul, the younger brother, has made headlines for being disruptive in his Los Angeles neighborhood. But even with this drama, his fanbase had continued to grow and support him. But recently the controversies have hit Logan Paul, and the backlash for his actions has been swift and necessary.
On December 31st, Logan Paul uploaded a video on his Youtube channel, which has over 15.5 million subscribers, in which he showed the graphic images of a man who had committed suicide in Japan’s Aokigahara forest. The up close image of the victim was used in the thumbnail of the video, most likely as a means of clickbait to increase viewership. The video did contain a warning for the images that Paul portrayed, but that warning was mute since the graphic images warned about are used in the thumbnail that anyone can see.
In the video in question, Paul and his “posse” travel into Japan’s Aokigahara forest. This forest is infamous for being a location that people attempt suicide. The video itself began with Paul discussing the monumental impact this video will have on the Youtube community, calling it “a moment in Youtube history.” The footage from the forest is played, showing a group of twenty-something “creators” wandering into the forest and finding the body. Rather than putting the cameras down and doing what may be morally right, the group led by Paul made expletive remarks and jokes in front of the dangling body.
The video has since been deleted by Logan Paul, but why did it go up in the first place? The video is highly graphic and inappropriate in nature. And even though Paul was attempting to use this video as a platform to speak about mental illness, he gravely overstepped. They used the video as an opportunity to get a laugh and get increased viewership, rather than an have an intellectual purpose. With his platform, reaching 15.5 million on Youtube and 16.2 million on Instagram, Paul has an opportunity to take serious issues and bring them to light. But instead, he used the suicide situation as clickbait to get a larger viewership while making jokes.
Outrage was swift after the publishing of the video. The graphic images and reaction by Paul and his posse led to harsh criticism and the eventual removal of the video by Paul. But this was only after the video had been viewed 6 million times and “liked” over 500,000 times. The next day, due to all of the outrage surrounding the video, Paul released his first apology.
This apology was posted via twitter, where he wrote: “I’m often reminded of how big a reach I have & with great power comes great responsibility.” He ended this first apology by writing “I love everyone. I believe in people. I’m out here. Peace #Logang4life.” This apology was criticized for being defensive in nature and for not taking the issue seriously enough. As the story gained more traction in major news media, there was a call for more responsibility to be taken by Paul. On Tuesday, he released his second apology on his Youtube page. In this video, Paul stated that he should have realized he needed to “put the cameras down.”
“I want to apologize to the internet,” said Paul in the video,“I want to apologize to anyone who has seen the video. I want to apologize to anyone who has been effected or touched by mental illness or depression or suicide.”
In response to the video and to Paul’s apologies, Youtube stepped in to take action. The statement said that Youtube “decided to remove Logan Paul’s channel from Google preferred.” This is an attempt by Youtube to punish Paul financially. Up until this point his videos were put on the Google Preferred platform which gave him more advertisement opportunities from the sites’ top advertisers. He was on this platform due to his popularity and influence as a creator. Youtube also announced that Paul would lose his part in several Youtube-produced movies and series.
“Our hearts go out to the family of the person featured in the video. YouTube prohibits violent or gory content posted in a shocking, sensational or disrespectful manner. If a video is graphic, it can only remain on the site when supported by appropriate educational or documentary information and in some cases it will be age-gated,” said Youtube in a separate statement regarding the video.
Since this controversy has become major news, Paul has stated that he will be taking a break from Youtube and social media. But what difference will it make? Paul is a multi-millionaire whose audience follows him blindly. Even without daily content to support him, his young fans can still buy his merchandise and view his videos that are monetized. His small loss of revenue will not change the dangers he put his impressionable and vulnerable audience in when he made the decision to sensationalize suicide.
The current vlogging culture has lead to an extraordinary revolution of “social media influencers” over millions of teens and tweens. This power, if unchecked, will continue to have negative results on the next generation. This is all because those in power are making dangerously questionable decisions for the sole purpose of getting views.
m • Jan 31, 2018 at 8:41 am
i agree with you on some level. There are plenty of suicide stories all over you tube that the young post. there are videos that people take and somehow have posted of them hanging themselves (like that girl who live streamed the video). But, if you are a creator/entertainer you need to know your limit’s and he does not. He does as he pleases because he has money and nothing can hurt him. He didn’t think about how this video could affect anybody while he was editing the video. He thought about the views and everything he could gain, not what could be lost.
unknown • Jan 16, 2018 at 2:23 pm
I believe that logan paul has done nothing wrong in my opinion its not his fault and he is receiving way to much hate but jake on the other hand is way wrong for his actions and he desevers more hate than logan so in all the only thing i have to say is be a maverick and join the logang
Phil Maltese • Jan 16, 2018 at 10:43 am
Its YouTube, it’s his job, hes an entertainer. His goal is to make money, no one should be outraged.
Anon • Jan 17, 2018 at 2:37 pm
How exactly would you feel if your deceased loved one was showed on the internet without your permission and used to gain a profit? What he showed wasn’t an actor or CGI, it was a live person. While Logan Paul was trying to raise awareness for suicide, he did it poorly. His video went against all the guidelines for the media guidelines for suicide. Let’s also keep in mind how disrespectful he was while he was in Japan. If you haven’t seen the rest of his vlogs while he was in Japan, I suggest you do so. His vlogs showed little to no respect for the Japanese people. He went into the forest and purposely went off the trail. He was aware that the forest was mostly known for suicide. When he found the body, he didn’t stop filming or edit the body out of the video. No, instead he got closer to the body and even posed with the body so he could show it in his thumbnail. He had to sit down and edit this video and decide to post the video online. A video he was aware would be seen by children. Children who don’t know right from wrong and will think that posing with a dead body is okay. He maybe an entertainer, but that does not mean he gets a “get out of jail free card”.
important person • Jan 19, 2018 at 6:41 pm
oh be quiet you know what he did was not for money or views it was an accident he wanted to raise awareness about suicide the way he went about it was a little bit wrong but yall or over exaggerating the situation to make him look like the devil he put warnings in the video so if kids saw it they would stop and if they kept watching that is on them and also he has apologized twice but yet people are still hating on him like grow and a move on with your lives
Abraham • Jan 29, 2018 at 9:11 pm
I don’t think Logan pauls first intent was to raise awareness. He and Jake are known for clickbait, views and being rich. While I believe his intent was correct, the thought of views definitely was in his head. I also agree that he shouldn’t have received that much heat from the situation. No one is perfect, but Logan should have been able to understand that what he was filming was probably not a good idea. If he was raising awareness, he probably should have cut out a lot of the parts of that vlog, like his laughing and screaming.
important person • Jan 19, 2018 at 6:43 pm
No body’s perfect you live and learn again and again tell you get it right
John doe. • Jan 16, 2018 at 10:42 am
This article seems like a reason for the knight crier staff to increase the amount of page views on the website. All the other articles have much less information, though more important, than this recent logan paul controversy. It seems this story was milked for views while other important story’s as the hawaii false balistic missile story could have been much better content. I think a re-evaluation of the content used on the site is much needed.