YouTube is taking down videos of teenagers eating detergent that were posted to the site as part of a potentially fatal online challenge.
The ‘Tide Pod Challenge’, in which children film themselves chewing on detergent pods and then dare others to participate, has swept the internet this month.
A number of the alarming clips have been uploaded to YouTube, prompting warnings from US officials and poison control centres not to ingest detergent.
YouTube has now said it is removing Tide Pod Challenge videos because they encourage ‘dangerous activities’.
YouTube is taking down videos of teenagers eating detergent that were posted online as part of a potentially fatal online challenge. Children attempting the ‘Tide Pod Challenge’ film themselves chewing on detergent pods and then dare others to participate (pictured)
‘YouTube’s Community Guidelines prohibit content that’s intended to encourage dangerous activities that have an inherent risk of physical harm,’ the company said in a statement.
The videos are removed from YouTube after being flagged by users, and the hosting channel receives a strike that could result in a ban, the company said.
‘We work quickly to remove flagged videos that violate our policies.’
Videos discussing the trend in an educational or news setting are still permitted on the site.
Tide pods are colourful laundry detergent capsules sold in the United States that resemble those marketed in Britain by companies including Persil and Aerial.
The pods contain ethanol and hydrogen peroxide and are extremely toxic, often leading to diarrhoea and vomiting if any detergent is ingested.
In an earlier statement, Procter & Gamble, Tide’s parents company, said: ‘We have been working with leading social media networks to remove harmful content that is not consistent with their policies. Laundry pacs are made to clean clothes.’
The Tide Pod Challenge appears to have started in a 2015 parody article by the Onion joking about eating the pods.
In 2017, US comedy site College Humor posted a satirical video titled ‘don’t eat laundry pods showing a student tempted to eat the capsules because they look inviting and delicious.
A number of alarming entries have been uploaded to YouTube, prompting warnings from US officials and poison control centres not to ingest detergent. YouTube has now said it is removing Tide Pod Challenge videos because they encourage ‘dangerous activities’
After researching how bad they are for you, the man then eats a whole bowl.
Shortly after the video went viral, home videos of people eating laundry detergent pods began popping up on Reddit, Twitter and YouTube.
‘They should not be played with… Even if meant as a joke. Safety is no laughing matter,’ Tide said in a statement.
There have already been 40 cases of detergent ingestion reported to The American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) in 2018. About half of them were intentionally ingested.
At least 10 deaths have been linked to accidentally ingesting them in the past, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Two of the deaths were young children, and the other eight involved elderly people with dementia.
In a Twitter post last week, Tide warned that its detergent pods should be used for doing laundry and ‘nothing else’. A video accompanying the statement included American Football star Rob Gronkowski, who plays for the New England Patriots
Tide pods are colourful laundry detergent capsules sold in the United States that resemble those sold in Britain by companies including Persil and Aerial