How does YouTube treat dangerous challenges, pranks and stunts?
Part of YouTube brand safety
The short answer
YouTube's harmful or dangerous content policy removes challenges with an imminent risk of injury, pranks that make victims fear serious danger, and adult acts that risk serious harm or death. Separately, its advertiser friendly guidelines let controlled professional stunts earn ads, limit amateur risk taking, and deny ads to content that mainly shows dangerous pranks or acts.
Key takeaways
- YouTube removes extremely dangerous challenges, threatening pranks and acts by adults that risk serious harm or death, and may age restrict dangerous content that has context and does not promote the act.
- For ads, stunts that are slightly dangerous but performed in a professional and controlled environment where no one is seriously injured can earn revenue.
- Content that mainly shows accidents, vigilantism, pranks or risky stunts earns no ads, and so do discussions of trending videos built on them.
- "Don't try this at home" is not enough context in YouTube's own words; the video has to explain the risk or the precautions.
- Prank and stunt channels are judged on their pattern: who the target is, whether people are frightened or hurt, and whether the video invites imitation.
What does YouTube's harmful or dangerous content policy cover?
YouTube's harmful or dangerous content policy (opens in a new tab) opens with one sentence: YouTube "doesn't allow content that encourages dangerous or illegal activities that risk serious physical harm or death." The policy covers videos, descriptions, comments, live streams and links. It groups the risks into dangerous acts, challenges and pranks; weapons instructions; digital security content such as phishing; and regulated goods. For a media plan the first group is the one to study, because it defines a whole genre of entertainment channels.
| Category | YouTube's definition | Examples YouTube gives |
|---|---|---|
| Extremely dangerous challenges | "Challenges that pose an imminent risk of physical injury" | Choking or drowning games, detergent eating, the fire challenge, the hot water challenge |
| Dangerous or threatening pranks | Pranks that "lead victims to fear imminent serious physical danger" or seriously distress minors or vulnerable people | Threats with weapons, bomb scares, swatting or fake 911 calls, fake home invasions, fake kidnapping |
| Harmful or dangerous acts | "Acts performed by adults that have a risk of serious harm or death" | Acts in the challenge categories above, and extremely dangerous driving |
| Minors in dangerous activities | Content that "endangers the emotional and physical well-being of minors" | Minors drinking alcohol, misusing fireworks or using firearms unsupervised |
Between removal and full eligibility sits age restriction. YouTube says it may restrict rather than remove a dangerous act when there is educational or documentary context, when "The act shown does not risk serious injury", or when "The content does not promote the act shown." Its examples include prank content with "excessive fake blood or gruesome fake injuries" and adults "using tasers on other willing participants or themselves." The age restriction policy (opens in a new tab) adds "challenges that cause bodily injury" performed by adults that minors could imitate.
How are dangerous challenges and pranks treated for ads on YouTube?
Content that stays up still has to pass the advertiser friendly guidelines (opens in a new tab). Their harmful acts section says "Content that promotes harmful or dangerous acts resulting in serious physical, emotional, or psychological injury is not suitable for advertising." The three ad levels separate the professional, the amateur and the shocking.
| Ad level | YouTube's headline rule | Examples in the guidelines |
|---|---|---|
| Can earn ad revenue | Stunts "slightly dangerous, but performed in a professional and controlled environment where no one is seriously injured" | The ice bucket challenge; fail compilations without a focus on graphic injuries; reports on harmful challenges with no footage of the moment of harm |
| Limited ad earnings | Content "showing but not focusing on physical harm or distress, including acts done in a non-professional, non-controlled environment" | Motor vehicles drifting with dangerous tricks; fail compilations focused on graphic injuries; layoff or break up pranks causing extreme distress; eating foods harmful in large volumes, such as the Carolina Reaper pepper |
| No ad earnings | Content that "mainly shows accidents, vigilantism, pranks, or dangerous acts", plus "discussions of trending videos that show this type of content" | Fake bomb scare pranks; forced kissing or groping pranks; challenges that could cause serious harm if copied, such as the fire challenge; vomiting after a ghost pepper |
Definition
- Seriously injured
- In YouTube's advertiser friendly guidelines, injuries that "cannot be treated without proper medical care or cannot be treated at home such as broken bones, visible dislocations, or significant amounts of blood."
Two lines in that table matter for channel buyers. First, the commentary line: a reaction channel that discusses a trending dangerous challenge, with the footage, sits in the no ads tier even if the host disapproves. Second, minors: YouTube lists dangerous acts "that include a minor as a participant or victim" as earning no ads. The age restricted videos guide covers what restriction does to delivery.
Which stunt channels can still be suitable for advertisers?
Stunt content can be built for advertisers. Professional stunt teams, motorsport demonstrations, product durability tests and stunt coordinators explaining film work all fit YouTube's professional and controlled line. YouTube's policy gives one of its own examples of acceptable context: "a professional stunt person performs a dangerous motorcycle jump that shows viewers the safety precautions taken in preparation, like onsite emergency medical personnel and the use of protective equipment."
The weakest form of context is the disclaimer. The harmful content policy says "Saying, 'Don't try this at home' is not sufficient context." YouTube's guidance on context (opens in a new tab) explains what works instead: telling viewers not to imitate the act "because of the serious harm it could cause" or recommending "professional supervision", and putting that context in the video itself, not only in the title or description.
Signs a stunt channel fits a brand plan
- The creator or team shows safety gear, spotters, medics or a closed set on camera.
- Videos explain the training or preparation behind the act.
- Nobody in recent uploads is seriously injured as YouTube defines it.
- Members of the public are not part of the stunt, and nobody is tricked into it.
- No minors take part in the risky segments.
- Titles and thumbnails show the stunt, not the crash or the injury.
How do you spot risky prank channels on YouTube?
Prank channels differ by who the target is and what the target feels. A prank on a willing friend that ends in a laugh is a different product from one that convinces a stranger they are in danger. YouTube's harassment policy (opens in a new tab) adds lines prank channels cross: it bars "Swatting" or "other prank calls to emergency or crisis response services", stalking, and content showing "vigilantes restraining or assaulting individuals."
A five step review for a prank channel
- Identify the targets. Strangers in public, family members, partners or willing friends; note any minors.
- Watch the reaction, not the setup. Fear, crying, panic or anger at the reveal points to distress YouTube treats as harmful.
- List the prank themes. Bombs, weapons, arrests, deaths, break ups and layoffs appear in YouTube's no ads or limited tiers.
- Check for imitation risk. Ask whether a viewer could copy the prank and get hurt, or hurt someone.
- Read the run, not one video. A channel whose themes escalate across recent uploads is moving toward removal territory.
Should brands targeting young adults avoid stunt content?
Not by default. An audience of adults 18 to 24 does not make dangerous content suitable, and it does not make professional stunts unsuitable. The content decides. Google's content suitability page (opens in a new tab) offers a Limited inventory type for "brands with strict suitability requirements", and warns it "may limit your reach and performance". A brand that wants stunt content should keep a wider inventory type and do the work in its channel list instead.
The list is where the decision lives. Google Ads lets a buyer exclude a single video ID, a channel or a URL at the campaign, ad group or account level through placement exclusions (opens in a new tab). Display & Video 360's brand suitability help (opens in a new tab) warns that advertiser level changes can cause "underdelivery of line items", and that YouTube Sponsorships booked through Programmatic Guaranteed instant deals bypass "most advertiser-level suitability exclusions", so a sponsorship lineup is reviewed channel by channel.
Fictional example
Stunt channels for a rugged phone case maker in New Mexico
An unnamed maker of rugged phone cases wants YouTube ads for adults 18 to 24 in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces, beside durability tests, stunt teams and motorsport channels. The client likes risk on screen but wants no injuries, no public pranks and nothing a viewer could copy and get hurt.
A durability test channel stays in: its drops are filmed on a closed set with the method explained. A motorsport stunt team stays in after review, since each video shows the track, the safety crew and the gear. A prank channel whose recent uploads stage fake robberies on strangers leaves the plan. A reaction channel that replays trending choking game clips with disapproving commentary also leaves, because YouTube places discussions of such trending videos in its no ads tier.
How does PlacementGraph help screen stunt and prank channels?
Frequently asked questions
Do fail compilations earn ads on YouTube?
Some do. YouTube lists fail compilations "without a focus on graphic injuries", such as walking into a glass door, as able to earn ads. Compilations focused on graphic injuries get limited ads, and those that include death or grievous damage, such as paralysis or coma, earn none.
Are spicy food challenges treated as dangerous?
It depends on the reaction. YouTube's advertiser friendly guidelines give limited ads to eating foods harmful in large volumes, such as the Carolina Reaper pepper, or ones that cause a mild physical reaction, defined as things like dry heaving. Consumption that leads to a graphically shocking reaction, such as vomiting after a ghost pepper, earns no ads.
Does a news report about a dangerous challenge lose ads?
Not necessarily. YouTube lists reports on harmful pranks or challenges "with no footage or audio of the moment of harm" as able to earn ads. Reports that show threats or acts that should not be imitated sit in the limited tier, so the footage a newsroom chooses decides the level.
Can a prank video with paid actors stay on YouTube?
It can, if viewers can tell. YouTube's age restriction policy names "fake harmful pranks that seems so real that viewers can't tell the difference" as a restriction case. A scripted prank that is clearly labeled in the video is treated differently from one presented as real.
Sources
- Harmful or dangerous content policy (opens in a new tab)YouTube Help
- Advertiser-friendly content guidelines (opens in a new tab)YouTube Help
- Age-restricted content (opens in a new tab)YouTube Help
- How YouTube evaluates Educational, Documentary, Scientific and Artistic (EDSA) content (opens in a new tab)YouTube Help
- Harassment and cyberbullying policies (opens in a new tab)YouTube Help
- About content suitability (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- Exclude specific webpages and videos (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- Brand suitability (opens in a new tab)Display & Video 360 Help
Researched and written by PlacementGraph Research. Read how we research, source and update these pages. Corrections: diana@placementgraph.com.