YouTube Adds New Policies To Ban Gun Sales, Tutorials

Weeks after confusion over YouTube’s decision to suspend and remove some accounts and videos that displayed guns, the video-hosting giant has clarified its policy to crack down on videos containing and promoting firearms.

A recent update to YouTube’s content policies added new restrictions on the display of guns and firearms, including an attempt to prevent content that promotes the sale of guns and gun accessories, as well as content that teaches viewers how to manufacture or install firearm add-ons.

The first part of YouTube’s new policy targets gun sellers, both commercial and private. According to the policy, YouTube will no longer allow content that “intends to sell firearms or certain firearms accessories through direct sales ... or links to sites that sell these items.”

Under the rules, YouTube will no longer allow content that shows firearm accessories designed to simulate automatic fire or convert a firearm to automatic fire. The banned accessory list includes "bump stocks, gatling triggers, drop-in auto sears and conversion kits." YouTube is also banning the promotion of high-capacity magazines that can carry more than 30 rounds.

In addition to banning the sale of guns and accessories, YouTube will also remove any video content that provides instructions on how to manufacture a firearm, ammunition, high capacity magazine, homemade silencers and suppressors. It also bans tutorials for manufacturing the previously mentioned accessories used for automatic fire.

Finally, YouTube will take action to remove any tutorials that show viewers how to install any of the banned accessories.

The company also notes that its list of prohibited content is not necessarily limited to the listed accessories, suggesting the company may further crack down on other gun-related content that it deems to be unacceptable.

YouTube hosts a considerable amount of gun content, including entire communities of gun vloggers who produce videos and tutorials. In a recent attempt to purge conspiracy videos from its site, YouTube also started giving strikes to channels that contained gun videos, seemingly without warning.