Sam Pepper Scandal: What Can YouTube Do To Control Its Harassment-Prank Problem?

Sam Pepper’s controversial “bum-pinching” videos may have been taken down by YouTube, but the ongoing scandal shines an uncomfortable light on the social media site and its treatment of sexual harassment allegations.

Even before accusations were made against Pepper, attention was called to YouTube’s potentially poor handling of harassment complaints.

A report created by the Take Back the Tech campaign stated that YouTube, along with Facebook and Twitter, lacked transparency in addressing how common the mistreatment of women actually is on their platform. YouTube was also seen as less than forthcoming about what was being done to punish guilty parties.

As media attention is being paid to Pepper, questions are being raised regarding actions YouTube may or may not take against him over his video content and poor representation of their online brand.

Sam Pepper may be highly visible thanks to the accusations against him, but he is only a small part of the harassment-prank subculture.

This group of individuals to which Sam belongs both generates and seeks out content centered around approaching total strangers according to race, gender, and perceived income level and agitating them “for laughs.” The more offensive and degrading the actions taken by the so-called pranksters, the better.

The hope is that the angry or upset individual(s) will give a response that leads to viral content.

Some harassment-style pranksters have all but admitted that a racially-charged video is more likely to get clicks and that potential victims are targeted accordingly.

Still, Pepper is a special case; the complaints against him are not limited to his on-camera antics.

YouTuber Laci Green said in her video about the scandal said that some of the alleged victims are preparing to file charges against Sam Pepper for rape and other forms of sexual violation.

Even so, Pepper’s sexual harassment of strangers on camera only represents ONE channel among a sea of YouTube accounts specializing in going above and beyond to violate others. All in the name of a huge payday.

This cynical outlook circles back to YouTube and the site’s partnership and payment policies.

As public pressure mounts, the social media giant may find it no longer has the luxury of waiting for a major media backlash before addressing the sort of content it allows users like Sam to post and profit from.

Exactly how YouTube intends to respond to the Sam Pepper scandal or if the site has any intention of permanently removing Pepper at all remain matters of intense speculation and discussion.

Sam’s account, which boasts 2.3 million subscribers, is active at present. A Change.org petition was created to promote his removal from YouTube.

Though he will hardly be the last individual to have questionable content removed, one hopes that the backlash against Pepper will signal the beginning of a far more proactive approach to content management.

If individuals like Sam Pepper are able to garner fame and lucrative profits from emotionally harming other people or even putting themselves in harm’s way (one YouTuber found himself at gunpoint), it raises questions of the ethical nature of how YouTube earns a large share of its income.

[Image Source: Gage Skidmore]