Guns on display in a firearms store (Credit: 2AR Tactical Custom Guns/Facebook via MGN.).
WASHINGTON (CIRCA) - YouTube has placed tighter restrictions on videos concerning guns, according to Bloomberg Technology.
Bloomberg Technology on Wednesday reported that YouTube will ban videos promoting or linking to websites selling firearms and accessories.
YouTube will also forbid footage containing instructions about how to assemble such weapons, with both policies taking effect in April.
“We routinely make updates and adjustments to our enforcement guidelines across all of our policies,” a YouTube spokeswoman said in a statement.
“While we’ve long prohibited the sale of firearms, we recently notified creators of updates we will be making around content promoting the sale or manufacture of firearms and their accessories.”
At least two video bloggers say they have already been impacted by the changes, which comes days before Saturday’s March for Our Lives.
March for Our Lives is a rally by survivors of last month’s school shooting in Parkland, Fla. that killed 17 people.
Spike’s Tactical, a firearms company, said in a Tuesday Instagram post that YouTube had suspended its account for “repeated or severe violations” of its community guidelines.
WARNING: THE INSTAGRAM POST BELOW CONTAINS PROFANITY. READER DISCRETION ADVISED.
WARNING: THE INSTAGRAM POST BELOW CONTAINS PROFANITY. READER DISCRETION ADVISED.
“Well, since we’ve melted some snowflakes on @youtube and got banned, might as well set IG and FB on fire!” the company said in a second Instagram post later Tuesday.
InRange TV, an online channel focused on guns, said in a Tuesday Facebook post that it would exit YouTube for PornHub, an adult content platform.
“YouTube’s newly released vague and one-sided firearms policy makes it abundantly clear that YouTube cannot be counted upon to be a safe harbor for a wide variety of views and subject matter,” it said.
“For this reason, InRange TV is pleased to announce its expansion onto the PornHub network,” the post continued.
“PornHub has a history of being a proactive voice in the online community, as well as operating a resilient and robust streaming platform.”
WARNING: THE FACEBOOK POST BELOW CONTAINS PROFANITY. READER DISCRETION ADVISED.
YouTube is owned by Alphabet Inc.’s Google, and the video site has long courted controversy over its handling of content centered on guns and other weapons.
Gun control activists have placed fresh pressure on tech giants like YouTube following last month’s bloodshed in Florida.
YouTube and other companies with streaming services – such as Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. – declined to yank the National Rifle Association’s channel after the massacre.
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