If you hadn't already been made aware by literally anyone with a Netflix account, Bird Box is a pretty big deal at the moment. The hit film starring Sandra Bullock follows the story of a woman and her two children trying to flee near-certain death in a post-apocalyptic world. The twist? They have to remain blindfolded at all times, lest they set eyes upon an unknown force that drives people to kill themselves.
So, this being the age of making everything into a meme, social media users have taken this plot device and run with it, creating the "Bird Box challenge". In order to participate in the challenge, a person has to go about their daily life while blindfolded - sometimes for up to 24 hours.
In a recent video, Jake Paul (brother of the infamous Logan Paul) decided that he would hop on the trend and render himself blind for a whole day. Due to the nature of the "stunts" he performed, though, the video didn't stay up for long.
In a video titled "24 Hour Bird Box Challenge", Paul attempted challenges such as driving and running around in the middle of a Los Angeles street.
Obviously, this is incredibly dangerous, and Paul thought he could get around this by including a note on the screen which read "Do not try this at home - see disclaimer in description".
And the "disclaimer" pretty much reiterated that:
"Please be warned (and we cannot possibly stress this enough); under no circumstances should any challenges, stunts, or pranks be attempted by any of our viewers. All challenges, stunts, and pranks are performed by trained professionals in a controlled environment with proper safety measures taken, and are for entertainment purposes only! Again, do not try this at home!"
Unfortunately for Paul, he never verbally warned his audience, and so the written description was not enough to get around YouTube's strict community guidelines.
YouTube’s policy states that "it may age-restrict videos containing adults participating in activities that have a high risk of injury or death." And, surprise, surprise, Paul running around in traffic while unable to see is considered to be "high risk".
"While it might not seem fair to say you can’t show something because of what viewers might do in response, we draw the line at content that intends to incite violence or encourage dangerous or illegal activities that have an inherent risk of serious physical harm or death," YouTube’s community guidelines state. "Videos that we consider encouraging dangerous or illegal activities include, among other things, instructional bomb making, choking games, hard drug use, or other acts where serious injury may result."
As a result, Paul's video has been age-gated, and nobody without an account that proves they are over 18 will be able to view the video.
Meanwhile, Netflix has released a statement asking people not to participate in the Bird Box challenge. "Can’t believe I have to say this, but: PLEASE DO NOT HURT YOURSELVES WITH THIS BIRD BOX CHALLENGE," they wrote on Twitter. "We don’t know how this started, and we appreciate the love, but Boy and Girl have just one wish for 2019 and it is that you not end up in the hospital due to memes."
You heard it folks: don't be like Jake Paul and run blindfolded into traffic. Listen to Netflix and avoid meme-related hospital trips instead.
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