A couple of YouTube videos featuring amateur vehicle safety tests of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta involving children have been pulled for violating the platform’s policies on harmful and dangerous content — reports CNBC.
“YouTube doesn’t allow content showing a minor participating in dangerous activities or encouraging minors to do dangerous activities,” a YouTube spokesperson told CNBC. “Upon review, we determined that the videos raised to us by CNBC violate our harmful and dangerous policies, and as a result we removed the content.”
The tests were meant to determine if a slow-moving Tesla with the latest version of the FSD beta engaged would, on its own, avoid colliding with pedestrians on the road. Those conducting the tests used their own children in place of mannequins, but only after multiple tests with mannequins and other older adults.
We saw an FSD beta tester prove earlier this month that the experimental technology does not “mow down children” and stops when it spots them in its path. However, those experiments were conducted using cardboard cutouts and not actual children.
The video removed in question was a response to Dan O’Dowd, who shared a questional video declaring how FSD “mows down children”. O’Dowd has a rival automated software company and major clients include legacy automakers. “I am running a campaign to make computers safe for humanity and ban Tesla Full Self-Driving,” reads O’Dowd’s Twitter profile.
O’Dowd released another video earlier this week claims FSD beta hits child mannequins.
Omar has a huge conflict of interest: he only cares about Tesla's stock price, he doesn't really care about the safety of children.@WholeMarsBlog endorses Master Scammer Musk’s callous deployment of 100,000 two ton AI killing machines, even if they are trying to kill our kids: https://t.co/FVxlzMXcPc pic.twitter.com/V4n7RfwOKo
— Dan O'Dowd (@RealDanODowd) August 15, 2022
“Specifically, we don’t allow content showing or encouraging minors in harmful situations that may lead to injury, including dangerous stunts, dares, or pranks,” the YouTube spokesperson added.
The video in question was posted on August 14 by Ted Park, a Tesla investor and Model 3 owner. No one was hurt during Park’s tests, and he maintains that they were conducted with “extensive safety precautions.”
In Park’s view, the tests were a success because the car slowed down appropriately and did not hit anything or anyone.
“I have experienced the product myself, and believe in my investments,” Park told CNBC. “We did extensive safety precautions so that kids were never in danger.”
In a follow-up email, Park wrote, “First we tried on a mannequin, then we tried with a tall basketball player, then finally one kid stood and my other kid crossed the street.”
Park added that his Model 3 was never going more than eight miles per hour and he was prepared to take over throughout. He explained, “We made sure the car recognized the kid. Even if the system completely failed, I was prepared to take over at any time. I had a sense of when I was going to need to brake if the car was not sufficiently slowing down.”
Park’s video had amassed tens of thousands of views on the Whole Mars Catalog channel, before it was removed by YouTube.
You can watch the full video still below, according to @WholeMarsBlog, known as Tesla owner Omar Qazi. He said yesterday he has appealed YouTube’s decision to remove the video, which looks to be because CNBC reached out to the Google-owned company about it.
Qazi is a longtime FSD beta tester and frequently has engaged with dismissing O’Dowd’s claims about the software’s pitfalls.
We’ve appealed the decision explaining to YouTube that this was an educational video about a public issue and not some sort of stunt, dare or prank.
In the meantime you can download the video here:https://t.co/KdzYlsKPGh pic.twitter.com/UqnvjUHaHS
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) August 20, 2022
Tesla’s advanced driver assistance technologies, Autopilot and FSD, have faced increased scrutiny from regulators and government authorities in recent months. California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is currently looking into the marketing surrounding these features for being misleading.
Later today, Tesla is set to release FSD beta 10.69, as confirmed by Elon Musk earlier on Saturday.
