• by Alex Weprin , January 9, 2018

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, YouTube said that it was “looking at further consequences” for its creator Logan Paul in the wake of a controversial and since-deleted video.

The buzz surrounding Paul’s video put new emphasis on the brand-safety concerns the Google-owned video site has faced over the last year. The video, which included footage of a man who appeared to have committed suicide shortly before it was filmed, drew swift outrage from public figures and from other YouTube creators.

Paul has not posted any videos since his public apology one week ago.

YouTube had not commented publicly on the matter until its statement open Tuesday.

“Many of you have been frustrated with our lack of communication recently. You’re right to be. You deserve to know what's going on,” the company said, acknowledging concern over the video. “We expect more of the creators who build their community on YouTube, as we’re sure you do too. The channel violated our community guidelines, we acted accordingly, and we are looking at further consequences.”

It is not clear what those consequences could include.

With more than 15 million subscribers, Paul is among the most popular creators on YouTube. His channel has also been a lure for advertisers, which have often turned to YouTube’s professional creators as a relatively safe space when compared to the rest of the site’s content, which has in the past included inappropriate content.

While Paul’s controversial video was not monetized (meaning no ads were featured on it before it was deleted), it nonetheless served as a wake-up call for those who viewed the most popular channels as safe places to spend ad budgets.

The challenge for YouTube is not only figuring out the right punishment for Paul, but ensuring that its professional creators learn from the incident, and know what content is inappropriate to publish in the future.

“It’s taken us a long time to respond, but we’ve been listening to everything you’ve been saying. We know that the actions of one creator can affect the entire community, so we’ll have more to share soon on steps we’re taking to ensure a video like this is never circulated again,” the company’s statement concludes.