According to The Verge, Jake Paul just violated YouTube’s community guidelines by putting on a blindfold and stepping out into a busy street in Los Angeles, California. This makes Paul the latest in a string of YouTube celebrities to take on the "Bird Box Challenge."

For those who didn’t watch the Film “Bird Box,” it stars Sandra Bullock and two children navigating their way to a place of safety, while blindfolded against a monster that, if seen, would make them kill themselves. As a result, people are now actually risking death by taking up the latest challenge.

Netflix film starts 'Bird Box' Challenge

The new "Bird Box Challenge swiftly started appearing on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, soon after the film started streaming on Netflix. The challenge involves participants walking around for a set length of time while blindfolded. While many of the challenges were performed in a safe place, thereby not risking serious harm, along comes YouTuber Jake Paul, notorious for his stunts, risking death by walking into the centre of a busy road.

In Paul’s case, he made the challenge 24 hours and his content is said to directly violate YouTube’s community guidelines, whereby promoting dangerous activities like this is prohibited on the video platform. The Verge later reported that while Paul’s footage is still live, it is now age-gated and he is blocked from monetising the video.

Not only did Paul and his friends enter traffic while blindfolded, with angry drivers honking at him, they also had him wandering into a pond and one segment of the footage appears to show Paul driving around his property blindfolded.

Video disclaimer might not deter more challenges

Paul did add a disclaimer to his video description, telling viewers the “Bird Box” stunts were “performed by professionals” purely for entertainment and that viewers should not attempt the challenge at home.

However, with Paul’s audience being between the ages of eight and 16 years, this could only cause problems.

Fast Company notes that Paul’s video isn’t the first to show up on YouTube and that many have already been removed from the platform. YouTube is reportedly evaluating which “Bird Box” challenges can remain on the platform on a case-by-case basis.

There were similar issues last year with footage of the Tide Pod challenge appearing on YouTube. That challenge led to people eating washing detergent and risking their health. When the new challenge appeared, Netflix took to Twitter to ask people not to participate in the potentially deadly challenge.
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