Five Senators from the Democratic Party signed a letter to YouTube, asking the platform to crack down on “ghost gun” videos. The senators urged the platform to more strictly enforce its policy against showing how to make firearms.
Ghost guns are guns made using 3D printers. Due to the lack of serial numbers, law enforcement agencies have a hard time tracing the owner when the gun is used in a crime.
We obtained a copy of the letter for you here.
However, rights groups argue that blueprints for ghost guns, and details on how to make and print them, are protected speech.
In December, NBC News conducted an “investigation” that found out that there are dozens of videos on YouTube that show how to make ghost guns. Everytown for Gun Safety, an advocacy group, also flagged several videos on making ghost guns. YouTube has since removed these videos. But according to the senators’ letter, “dozens” of such videos remain on the site.
YouTube has banned content showing how to make firearms since 2018. The senators said that the policies “must be enforced — and enforced strongly – to make any difference.”
“It cannot be the case that YouTube is entirely reactive, removing these kinds of videos only when news outlets call public attention to violative content, when gun violence prevention advocates send letters listing specific YouTube videos that violate its Community Guidelines, or when congressional staff reach out to raise concerns about such videos,” the senators wrote.
YouTube is yet to reply to the letter, which was signed by Senators Richard, Blumenthal Christopher Murphy, Edward Markey, Robert Mendez, and Cory Booker.
