Logan Paul Punished by YouTube for Controversial Video

Logan Paul has been punished by YouTube this week over a video that appeared to show a body hanging in a Japanese forest that is known to be a spot for suicides, the New York Post said.

The video, which has since been taken down, brought an avalanche of criticism to Paul and to YouTube for leaving the video up until it reached more than 6 million views, the Post noted.

YouTube announced that it removed Paul's channel from Google Preferred advertising program and will not highlight him in the new season of the web series "Foursome." The company added that Paul's new video blogs on the website are now on hold.

Google Preferred aggregates top YouTube content for advertisers to buy time on them, the Post said.

Paul is one of YouTube's most popular contest creators, with more than 15 million subscribers. The company said, though, that Paul violated its community guidelines with the suicide video.

YouTube issued a series of Twitter posts Tuesday apologizing for its delay in addressing Paul's channel and telling viewers that it has taken action against him.

Like many others, we were upset by the video that was shared last week.

— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018

We expect more of the creators who build their community on @YouTube, as we’re sure you do too. The channel violated our community guidelines, we acted accordingly, and we are looking at further consequences.

— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018

It’s taken us a long time to respond, but we’ve been listening to everything you’ve been saying. We know that the actions of one creator can affect the entire community, so we’ll have more to share soon on steps we’re taking to ensure a video like this is never circulated again.

— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018

Billboard magazine noted that Paul's YouTube channel also received a strike from the video company, meaning it receives two more strikes over the next three-month period, his account could be terminated.

Paul had issued an apology on New Year's Day on Twitter after taking down the video, but it did little to silence the critics.

Dear Internet, pic.twitter.com/42OCDBhiWg

— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) January 2, 2018

• Logan Paul Apologizes for Video of Apparent Suicide Victim
• White Noise Video Copyright Complaints Dispute Musician's Own Work