Logan Paul 'won't Be Kicked Off' YouTube

Image copyright Getty Images

Controversial YouTube star Logan Paul has not yet done enough to deserve a ban from the video site, its chief executive has said.

Paul faced criticism in January after posting a video in which he made jokes after seeing a dead body in a Japanese forest associated with many suicides.

YouTube subsequently cut some of its business ties with the star.

It also penalised him after a subsequent video in which he Tasered a dead rat.

Paul has apologised for both videos.

YouTube usually bans a video creator under a "three strike" policy - which includes things like copyright infringement or violence.

"He hasn't done anything that would cause those three strikes," Susan Wojcicki told a conference audience in California, according to The Verge.

"We can't just be pulling people off our platform ... They need to violate a policy. We need to have consistent [rules]. This is like a code of law."

She added that while some people might think a certain video is "tasteless", others might disagree.

"YouTube has been very slow and reluctant to do anything that is meaningful," said Alex Brinnand from the magazine TenEighty, which is aimed at YouTube creators.

"Logan Paul is in such a prominent position in the YouTube community that he has... a responsibility and he needs to own up and understand that."

A separate but also highly popular vlogger, Casey Neistat, interviewed YouTube's chief business officer Robert Kyncl this week about how the site manages content created by members of the public.

Mr Neistat asserted that the YouTube model essentially meant that "drama is rewarded ultimately with dollars".

In response, Mr Kyncl said the site was thinking "very deeply" about disincentivising creators who sought to use drama "for the sake of views".

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Another YouTube star, Arya Mosallah, recently apologised after he was accused of uploading a prank video resembling an "acid attack".

However, at the time he added, "you've got to push boundaries to get the views".

YouTubers are often young people "egging each other on", without strict guidance about what is suitable content and what isn't, said Mr Brinnand.

"It's this competition to be the most outrageous and get the most views," he told the BBC.

"I can see how you can get swept up in it."