Last week, YouTuber Logan Paul made headlines after posting a series of tasteless and offensive videos about his trip to Japan - one of which concerned the
Aokigahara suicide forest. Since then, people have been questioning the sort of content that gets posted to YouTube, and to what extent the video platform should intervene when it comes to questionable topics.
In an
apology issued via Twitter, the company said, "We expect more of the creators who build their community on
@YouTube, as we’re sure you do too," which prompted people to take a closer look at other YouTubers who had posted controversial material in the past.
As a result, Shane Dawson, a YouTuber who has been making vlogs for more than a decade, came under fire after old footage of him making inappropriate jokes were reposted by an account named "PopBlast".
The video, which was titled, "I think Shane Dawson is a pedophile. Here's my proof.", showed footage of Dawson making questionable comments about child pornography during a guest appearance on a podcast.
"I went to Google and I didn't want to see child porn. I just wanted to see, let me pretend I'm a pedophile for a second," he said. "So I typed in naked baby. First of all, I don't understand why anybody would be turned on by that. But, they were sexy. I'm kidding."
The comment was obviously intended as a joke - a terrible one, of course - but a joke nonetheless. As a result, PopBlast's account has now been banned by YouTube. But Dawson still felt a need to explain and take accountability for his actions.
In his own post on Wednesday, the 29-year-old YouTuber posted a vlog which began with the same clip of him making the obscene comment, before following it up with an outraged response that anyone would accuse him of pedophilia, plus an apology for his misguided actions.
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"I wanted to play that clip in full—that moment especially in full—just for context because that seems to be missing nowadays. I can't believe I'm having this make this video," he stated at the beginning of the video.
"I'm going to start by saying I'm not a f***ing pedophile. I go on record saying I am not a f***ing pedophile. Got it? Great. There's my statement. It's disgusting that people are saying I'm a f***ing pedophile because of some s****y ass f***ing jokes from six years ago on a podcast."
Once that was out of the way, he apologized for swearing, then went on to admit that he used to deliberately say controversial things - and is now incredibly regretful because of it.
"I'm going to apologize first. I'm sorry that I used to make really s****y f***ing jokes. I'm sorry that I was so f***ing insecure and playing this character of this guy who's crazy and will say anything and tries to make people laugh by shocking them. That was my thing. That is what I did on YouTube," he confessed.
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He also made it clear that he has changed so much in that time, and has actually been abused himself in the past, so he now makes a conscious effort to shed light on the matter.
"I think that's why it hurts the most is having my name put next to the word pedophile is actually the most triggering and the most heartbreaking thing I've literally ever seen," he said. "I've been called everything. I've been on YouTube for a long time.
"I'm so sorry if that triggered you or offended you or hurt your feelings. It triggers me listening to that."
While Dawson's comments were obviously in poor taste, it's good to see him taking some accountability on the matter. This incident has certainly been a lesson to the YouTuber, and indeed everyone else who uses the platform.
