Senators demand YouTube CEO enforce ban on ‘ghost gun’ instructional videos on platform

Local law enforcement has captured thousands of untraceable firearms assembled from parts bought online

A group of Democratic senators has called on YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki to crack down on the proliferation of “ghost gun” instructional videos on the platform despite a four-year-old ban, as officials weigh more options to close loopholes allowing untraceable firearms to evade federal regulation.

So-called “ghost guns” do not have serial numbers, are largely unregulated across the US and can be assembled with parts purchased online, frustrating law enforcement and prosecutors that have seen a spike in ghost guns over the last several years.

The platform’s policies “must be enforced – and enforced strongly – to make any difference,” the senators wrote in a letter dated 14 February.

The letter from Senators Richard Blumenthal, Cory Booker, Ed Markey, Robert Menendez and Chris Murphy said that the company cannot simply remove “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.”

In the wake of several mass shootings last year, President Joe Biden issued a series of executive actions aimed at combating gun violence, including instructing the US Department of Justice to come up with new rules to regulate ghost guns like other firearms under federal oversight.

Local law enforcement reported recovering 1,750 suspected ghost guns in 2016, a figure that nearly doubled within two years. In 2020, law enforcement reported capturing more than 8,700 suspected ghost guns, according to the Justice Department.

A 17-year-old accused of shooting a classmate in Maryland in January was believed to have used a ghost gun. Two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who were shot while sitting in their patrol car in 2020 have sued a ghost gun manufacturer after the apparent ambush.

The senators’ letter follows an investigation from NBC News and pressure from gun control advocacy groups finding dozens of videos instructing viewers how to assemble the firearms. YouTube announced its ban in March 2018.

“Dangerous videos, providing step-by-step guides on how to create untraceable firearms at home, don’t just violate our sense of morality, they violate YouTube’s own policies,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action.

In a statement to NBC News, YouTube spokesperson Ivy Choi said the company has removed more than 280,000 videos that violated its rules against content it deemed harmful or dangerous in the third quarter of 2021, including videos that violated its firearms policy.

“This work is ongoing and our teams will continue to work hard to refine the policies and systems that allow us to quickly detect and remove violative videos,” according to the statement.