Tesla Full Self-Driving Test Involving Kids Gets Pulled From YouTube

pcmag.com:

YouTube has removed a video in which Tesla investors test claims that the latest beta version of the company's Full Self-Driving technology won't prevent the vehicles from running over children.

There's a bit to unpack here. The video in question was published because on Aug. 9 the Dawn Project, which says "the first danger [to humanity] we are tackling is Elon Musk’s reckless deployment of unsafe Full Self-Driving cars on our roads," kicked off a nationwide ad campaign with a video depicting Tesla vehicles using the technology running into child-sized mannequins:

Tesla supporters immediately cried foul over the campaign. This prompted Omar Qazi, the person who runs Whole Mars Catalog, to post a seemingly ludicrous request on Twitter:

But it turned out that Volt Equity CEO Tad Park—a Tesla investor—was actually willing to participate in Whole Mars Catalog's test of the feature's capabilities. On Aug. 14, the duo published a video showing that Full Self-Driving would swerve, stop, or slow down when it encountered a mannequin, a man, or a child standing in the road or crossing the road.

CNBC reported(Opens in a new window) on Aug. 19 that the video had "tens of thousands of views" before YouTube removed it for violating its child safety policy.(Opens in a new window) "Upon review," a YouTube spokesperson told the outlet, "we determined that the videos raised to us by CNBC violate our harmful and dangerous policies, and as a result we removed the content."

Whole Mars Catalog responded:

YouTube didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

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