--- title: YouTube Has Banned Dangerous Pranks and Challenges description: YouTube is banning "challenges presenting a risk of serious danger or death" in the wake of the viral 'Bird Box' challenge. canonical: https://time.com/5504295/youtube-bans-challenges/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-16T16:05:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:56:59.389Z og:title: YouTube Has Banned Dangerous Pranks and Challenges og:description: After 'Bird Box,' YouTube has decided to ban "dangerous" challenges og:url: https://time.com/5504295/youtube-bans-challenges/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: YouTube Has Banned Dangerous Pranks and Challenges twitter:description: After 'Bird Box,' YouTube has decided to ban "dangerous" challenges twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # YouTube Has Banned Dangerous Pranks and Challenges > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=d46f377f-0c91-4ca3-8ef6-93d0db79c684&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jan 16, 2019 4:05 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jan 16, 2019 4:05 PM UTC This week, YouTube decided to ban “dangerous challenges and pranks” from the platform, updating their community guidelines and enforcement of rules with a promise they will remove content that qualifies as encouraging “violence or dangerous activities.” The ban tightening follows headlines about Netflix’s [_Bird Box_](http://time.com/5500905/bird-box-challenge-car-accident/) just keeps on growing, after a [viral challenge](http://time.com/5500905/bird-box-challenge-car-accident/) related to the hit [Sandra-Bullock](http://time.com/5433710/bird-box-trailer-a-quiet-place/)\-starring thriller made waves online. While they don’t mention the movie directly, the timing is notable. “YouTube is home to many beloved viral challenges and pranks, but we need to make sure what’s funny doesn’t cross the line into also being harmful or dangerous,” they explained in the revised guidelines [posted online](https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/1063296?hl=en). “We’ve updated our external guidelines to make it clear that we prohibit challenges presenting a risk of serious danger or death, and pranks that make victims believe they’re in serious physical danger, or cause children to experience severe emotional distress.” > [](https://twitter.com/TeamYouTube/status/1085229927819968512) One of many viral challenges that can become dangerous, for the “_Bird Box_ challenge,” people move around blindfolded, as Bullock does in [the popular film.](https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/bird-box-ratings-netflix-nielsen-1203102316/) (In the movie, she is battling an invisible adversary in a post-apocalyptic landscape, which requires her to keep herself blindfolded to avoid a terrible fate.) At least [one car accident](http://time.com/5500905/bird-box-challenge-car-accident/) has been potentially linked to the challenge. Viral challenges are popular on YouTube and social media, from the [ice bucket challenge](http://time.com/4426072/ice-bucket-challenge-als-discovery/) — which helped raise money for research on ALS — to the [“mannequin”](http://time.com/4637661/rae-sremmurd-do-weather-tv/) and [“In My Feelings”](http://time.com/5333612/in-my-feelings-challenge/) challenges, which inspired people to upload creative dance videos. But it looks like people have finally taken things too far with the _Bird Box_ challenge, and YouTube is making an official step towards encouraging a safer environment. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5504295/youtube-bans-challenges/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5504295/youtube-bans-challenges/"},"headline":"YouTube Has Banned Dangerous Pranks and Challenges","datePublished":"2019-01-16T16:05:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:56:59.389Z","description":"\"We need to make sure what’s funny doesn’t cross the line\"","url":"https://time.com/5504295/youtube-bans-challenges/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Social Media","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5504295/youtube-bans-challenges/","name":"YouTube Has Banned Dangerous Pranks and Challenges"}}]}] ```