YouTube has introduced a new policy change that will limit firearms-related content. Specifically, the company’s new terms, which took effect this week, prohibit videos that depict how to put together or alter guns including those made through 3D printers.
Unsurprisingly, this decision has attracted criticisms from manufacturers and enthusiasts of 3D-printed pistols. They contend that the revised regulations are targeting them unfairly and curtailing their freedom of sharing information.
What is Banned?
The latest YouTube policy is specifically geared towards content offering instructions on firearm production or alteration. These include clips displaying:
- Constructing guns out of parts
- Adjusting existing firearms
- Making 3D guns
However, the site states that it still allows videos related to historical firearms as well as those providing education in gun safety. Additionally, hunting clips and gun handling demonstrations can be posted.
Why the Change?
According to YouTube, the motivation for this move was public safety concerns. The online platform alleges that tutorials demonstrating how to manufacture arms could enable criminals to illegally acquire weapons.
They cite both how easily accessible 3D printers are and how dangerous it can be when they become readily available.
Frustration Among Makers
New policy affects the 3D-printed gun community, which often posts YouTube videos giving tips on how to build a gun using a 3D printer.
Proponents of 3D-printed guns argue that these weapons are no more dangerous than traditionally manufactured firearms and that the knowledge to create them should be freely available.
They have claimed that this policy unfairly singles them out and restricts them from disseminating information about a legal technology. Some of the makers also worry that this could be a slippery slope to further limitations on such contents.
While some 3D-printed gun designs are readily available online, detailed assembly guides can be valuable resources for beginners. The concern is that these detailed instructions, once readily found on YouTube, will disappear from the platform, potentially leading users to less reliable or even dangerous sources of information. They believe those intent on acquiring ghost guns will find the information they need elsewhere
The specifics of YouTube’s policy are still becoming clear. Currently, it is uncertain whether this platform will take down existing videos showing how to assemble guns. Moreover, the extent to which “instructions” would be interpreted by YouTube remains unknown. This implies that general gun maintenance or historical firearms may continue being featured in videos without any deletion.
