Logan Paul video: More than 50,000 people sign petition calling for YouTube to delete his channel

'It's disgusting and shouldn't be tolerated — but with the power of the internet I think we can get rid of this scumbag once and for all'

Harriet Agerholm
Wednesday 03 January 2018 11:52 GMT
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YouTuber Logan Paul uploads footage of dead body in forest in Japan

Tens of thousands of people have signed a petition calling on YouTube to delete Logan Paul's channel after the video blogger posted footage of a dead body.

Mr Paul and his friends were visiting a Japanese forest known to be a suicide destination, when they stumbled across a man's corpse hanging from a tree.

He posted footage of the incident to the popular video sharing site.

At one point, Mr Paul laughs in apparent disbelief. He went on to joke that he had never stood next to a dead body.

After the footage went viral several petitions were launched, calling for YouTube to remove his account from the site..

One petition,, created by Britni Hiatt, had received more than 50,000 signatures at the time of publication.

"Logan Paul has gotten away with a lot of stuff. He took it way to far this time," the Indiana native wrote.

She added: "All he did was blur the deceased man's face out. He got close to the body and told the camera how the skin was 'blue' while showing the skin. He then joked about the whole thing and talked about how it was the top fifth crazy thing to have had happen to him this year.

YouTube star Logan Paul issues video apology for hanging man footage

She added: "It's not about you, Logan Paul. A man who had family and friends chose to end his life, and you chose to share his death to your millions of followers without thinking about how his family/friends felt?

"It's disgusting and shouldn't be tolerated. But with the power of the internet I think we can get rid of this scumbag once and for all, with your help of signing this petition it could lead to [YouTube] deleting his entire channel!"

YouTube has come under fire for allowing the video to be posted to its website. Many users have claimed it contravened the platform's policy.

Mr Paul not only runs his popular channel but worked with the YouTube to create an original film called The Thinning, as part of its YouTube Red offering.

Following public criticism, Mr Paul deleted the video from the website, apologised and vowed to “be better”.

“I should have never posted the video,” he said in a clip posted to his YouTube site. “I should have put the cameras down and stopped recording what we were going through. There's a lot of things I should have done differently but I didn't. And for that, from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry.”

The Independent has contacted YouTube for comment, but none had arrived at the time of publication.

However, the company has previously said in a statement: “Our hearts go out to the family of the person featured in the video. YouTube prohibits violent or gory content posted in a shocking, sensational or disrespectful manner," it said.

"If a video is graphic, it can only remain on the site when supported by appropriate educational or documentary information and in some cases it will be age-gated."

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