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Youtube to ban dangerous prank videos inspired by Netflix’s Bird Box

Youtube has said it will ban videos that contain dangerous or emotionally distressing "pranks", after a person crashed his car attempting to complete an online challenge inspired by Netflix's Bird Box.

In an update posted to its support site, Youtube said it had updated its external guidelines "to make it clear that challenges like the Tide Pod challenge or the Fire challenge, that can cause death and/or have caused death in some instances, have no place on Youtube".

This extends to footage of pranks "with a perceived danger of serious physical injury", such as a fake home invasion or drive-by shooting.

The move comes one day after a teenager crashed his car while driving blindfolded in the US, acting out a so-called challenge as made popular by the Netflix original film Bird Box.

The meme, which involves carrying out different activities such as crossing the road while blindfolded, has become popular in recent weeks. Netflix was forced to issue a warning to subscribers earlier this month with the statement: "Please do not hurt yourselves with this Bird Box challenge."

"Youtube is home to many beloved viral challenges and pranks," the message from the Google-owned streaming service said.

"That said, we’ve always had policies to make sure what's funny doesn't cross the line into also being harmful or dangerous. Our community guidelines prohibit content that encourages dangerous activities that are likely to result in serious harm, and today clarifying what this means for dangerous challenges and pranks."

Other dangerous challenges have included eating laundry detergent tablets made by US firm Tide, which led to a spike in reported cases of poisoning.

Tide parent Procter and Gamble created a public awareness campaign last year, fronted by US sportsman Rob Gronkwoski, to warn of the challenge's dangers on social media.