YouTube is failing to enforce new age restrictions on gun content more than six weeks after they took effect, an investigation by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) has found, raising questions about the platform’s ability, or willingness, to protect young users as promised.

In an update to its firearms policy effective June 18, YouTube said it would age-restrict videos that show the “use of homemade firearms, automatic firearms, and certain firearm accessories.” The move followed a TTP report last year which found that YouTube recommended hundreds of videos about guns and gun violence to accounts for boys interested in video games. Everytown for Gun Safety and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg cited the report in calling on YouTube to take action on kids and gun content.

But new research by TTP shows that YouTube continued to make gun content available to a minor account in early August, more than six weeks after the age restrictions were in place. What’s more, TTP found that YouTube’s search predictions— the automated suggestions that pop up as a user begins typing in the YouTube search bar—also pointed a minor to restricted gun content.

The findings suggest that YouTube, which is owned by Google, has not taken the steps it promised to shield young users from gun content.

YouTube declined to comment.

TTP set out to test whether YouTube is preventing age-restricted gun content from reaching young users on the platform. Using a private Google Chrome browser with no cookies or history, researchers created a Gmail account for a 14-year-old and used that Gmail to set up a corresponding YouTube account. (The teen test user did not indicate a gender.) While logged into YouTube as the 14-year-old, TTP plugged a series of gun-related terms into the platform’s search bar and examined the platform’s search predictions and search results. The research was conducted on Aug. 7.

TTP compiled its search terms from a report published last year by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) about criminal use of firearms. The terms were “Glock,” “Smith & Wesson,” “Taurus,” “Sturm Ruger,” and “HS Produkt” (the top five manufacturers of pistols traced by the ATF); “Marlin,” “Remington,” “Savage Arms,” and “Winchester” (which, along with the previously mentioned Sturm Ruger, make up the top five manufacturers of rifles traced by the ATF); and “pistol,” “rifle,” “machinegun,” “receiver,” and “silencer,” the top five weapon types among the suspected privately made firearms recovered and traced by the ATF.

For each search, TTP began typing the term into the YouTube search bar—initially without pressing “enter”—and captured images of the drop-down list of search predictions generated by YouTube. After recording the search predictions, TTP then pressed “enter” to generate search results and analyzed the videos surfaced by YouTube.

After searching for the above gun-related terms, TTP also entered the phrases “how to put a” and “how to 3d” into YouTube’s search bar to examine what the platform suggested to the hypothetical teen user.

TTP quickly discovered deficiencies in YouTube’s implementation of its new age restrictions, particularly with YouTube Shorts, the platform’s short-form video product launched in 2020 to compete with TikTok.

For example, when the 14-year-old test user searched for “glock,” the gun manufacturer, YouTube’s search results included a short video titled, “Glock with the switch.” The video, which had 2.3 million views, showed gloved hands firing a Glock pistol equipped with a device known as a switch or auto-sear that enables a semiautomatic pistol (like a Glock) to fire like a machine gun. The pistol also appeared to be equipped with a high capacity magazine, an ammunition-feeding device that lets shooters fire more bullets before pausing to reload.

YouTube did not block this video for the teen test user even though the platform’s firearms policy states that content showing the use of automatic firearms, including auto-sears and high-capacity magazines, is off limits for users under 18. The ATF has repeatedly raised alarm about the proliferation of switches, which are illegal under federal law, calling them an “emerging threat” to public safety.

YouTube surfaced other short videos in response to the “glock” search that should have been age-restricted for the 14-year-old test user under YouTube's new system. One video, titled “50cal GLOCK WITH A SWITCH,” showed a man firing a Glock pistol with an auto-sear. The video, from the verified YouTube channel GHG Hussle, had 37 million views and 17,000 comments

Another short video surfaced by YouTube, titled “Full Auto Glock 🔫,” shows a nighttime demonstration of a Glock that has apparently been converted into a fully automatic weapon. It had four million views and nearly 2,000 comments.

YouTube also surfaced a short video of a 3D-printed gun when the 14-year-old test user searched for “glock.” The video, from the YouTube channel Broke Boys Manifesto, showed a purple, 3D-printed SG22 semiautomatic pistol being loaded and fired into the ground.

YouTube did not block this video for the teen test account even though the platform’s firearms policy says content about homemade guns, including 3D-printed firearms, is restricted for users under 18. 3D printing is used to make so-called ghost guns, which do not have serial numbers and can be acquired without a background check, making them difficult to trace. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in April called on YouTube to stop the proliferation of ghost gun instructional videos on its platform, citing TTP’s research.

TTP identified multiple other examples of YouTube surfacing videos to the 14-year-old test user that should have been age-restricted.

When the teen test user searched for “Taurus,” the gun manufacturer, YouTube produced a short video titled, “3D printed taurus g2c vs glock 19x frame🤔” with 10,000 views. When the teen searched for “rifle,” YouTube served up a short video titled, “Full Auto Machine Gun Recoil” that showed a man firing a series of automatic weapons, including a MP5 submachine gun, a Thompson submachine gun or “tommy gun,” a “full auto Glock,” an Uzi submachine gun, and an AK-47 assault rifle. That video had 22 million views.

When the 14-year-old searched for “machinegun,” YouTube surfaced a video titled, “Glock 17C Full Auto” that showed a man firing a Glock pistol that had evidently been converted into a fully automatic weapon. The video had 607,000 views. When the teen user searched for “silencer,” YouTube produced a video titled, “Plastic bottle silencer” with 26 million views. The video showed a handgun firing with a plastic soda bottle duct-taped to the gun barrel.

YouTube did nothing to shield the teen user from this content, despite saying that videos about automatic firearms and 3D printed guns are restricted for users under 18. YouTube also says it age-restricts videos showing homemade silencers.

When the 14-year-old test user searched for “sturm ruger,” YouTube surfaced a short video that appeared to show a used Ruger SP101 revolver for sale. The video, from Duke’s Sports Shop, is set to rock music and gives a close-up view of the gun with a tag hanging from the trigger guard. The comments section shows one user inquiring about the price and the Duke’s account responding that the gun has already been sold.

The Duke’s Sports Shop channel appears to violate YouTube’s prohibition against selling firearms through direct sales or linking to sites that sell such items. Several of the short videos posted by this channel give the shop’s retail website, which sells a variety of firearms, or phone number.

(The Ruger SP101 video also sports a “Buy Super Thanks” button for the channel’s fans to purchase a special animation and comment on a video. Channels that use monetization features like this are required to follow YouTube’s Community Guidelines, including its firearms policy. YouTube takes a 30% cut of Super Thanks revenue.)

TTP also examined the search predictions generated by YouTube when the 14-year-old test account began typing gun-related terms and phrases into the platform’s search bar. In some cases, YouTube suggested searches for age-restricted firearms content, undermining its new child protection measures.

For example, when the teen account typed the word “glock” into the search bar, YouTube gave “glock switch” as one of its top suggested searches. As noted previously, switches, also known as auto-sears, enable semiautomatic pistols to fire like a machine gun and are a category of firearm accessories that YouTube says is restricted for users under 18.

When the teen account followed YouTube’s suggested search for “glock switch,” the platform surfaced a series of short videos that should have been restricted for minors. The first video, which was titled “G17 with a drum and switch 😍” and had over 990,000 views, showed someone firing a Glock firearm into a wooded area. The gun in the video used an auto-sear and a high-capacity magazine. The next video also showed a Glock handgun that appeared to be equipped with an auto-sear.

One of the short videos that came up under the “glock switch” search was blocked with a black screen that read, “Sorry, this content is age restricted.” This was the only time during this research that YouTube threw up any barrier to watching age-restricted gun content.

When the 14-year-old test user entered the phrase “how to put a” into YouTube’s search bar, the platform’s suggested searches included “how to put a switch on a glock,” again directing the teen to age-restricted content. As noted previously, YouTube restricts content about auto-sears for users under 18, and the platform prohibits videos that “provide instructions on how to convert a firearm to automatic or simulated automatic firing capabilities.”

When the teen account clicked on YouTube’s search suggestion of “how to put a switch on a glock,” the search results included a video titled, “Magdumping a 3D printed Magazine in a 3D Printed Glock.” ("Mag dumping" is slang for emptying the entire magazine of a weapon when firing.) The video included use of a 3D-printed gun and a high-capacity magazine, which are both age-restricted by YouTube.

Another video that came up in the search results, "Putting a switch on a Glock #comment #goviral #viarlshort," showed how to attach an auto-sear to a Glock pistol and gave a slow-motion demonstration of the weapon firing in fully automatic mode. The voiceover on the video cautioned that switches are illegal but walked the viewer through how to attach it to a weapon anyway.

In another case, when the hypothetical teen typed “how to 3d” into YouTube’s search bar, the platform suggested “how to 3d print a glock switch.” When the teen hit enter on that search, YouTube surfaced a short video that offered “rare” 3D-printed switches for $135, telling viewers to “get them while they last.”

TTP found that YouTube not only failed to age-restrict gun videos as promised, but it also ran ads in and around such videos served to the 14-year-old test user in search results. This shows YouTube making money off content that it should have prevented the teen user from viewing in the first place.

One video titled, “How to make DIY PVC Silencer/Suppressor (threaded/removable)”—which YouTube surfaced when the teen account searched for “silencer”—featured an in-stream ad, which plays before a video begins, as well as a watch feed ad, which appears on the right side of the video player. The video gave instructions on how to make a homemade silencer out of PVC pipe. YouTube says it age-restricts content on homemade silencers and prohibits videos that provide instructions on how to make such devices.

Another video called “How To Build A Glock From Scratch x Building A Glock To Fit Your Needs,” which came up when the teen searched for “glock,” had an in-stream ad for the Kamala Harris presidential campaign and a watch feed ad for Nike Dunk Low shoes. The video walked viewers through the process of how to assemble a homemade Glock pistol from various parts. YouTube says it age-restricts content on homemade firearms and prohibits providing instructions on how to manufacture guns.

When the teen test user searched for “machinegun,” YouTube ran an ad for Credit Karma, the Intuit-owned personal finance service, next to a video titled, “Test Fire of 43 Machine Guns – One Take, No Edits” in the search results. (Ads that appear in YouTube search results are called in-feed ads.) YouTube served this video to the teen user despite saying it age-restricts content about automatic firearms, including “firing a fully automatic rifle.”

Likewise, when the test user searched for HS Produkt, the gunmaker brand, YouTube ran an ad for Verizon Fios home internet service next to a video called “Shooting the Croatian HS Produkt VHS-2 Assault Rifle full-auto” in the search results.

When the 14-year-old account searched for “silencer,” YouTube ran another ad for the Harris presidential campaign next to a video titled, “Does a Pillow Work As a Silencer?” The video showed a man testing whether firing a gun through a pillow muffles the sound of the gunshot. YouTube did not age restrict this video despite saying it will do so with content showing the use of “homemade silencers.”

YouTube may have generated some positive headlines by promising to restrict certain kinds of gun content for minors, but TTP’s research shows it is not effectively implementing these changes. The research also shows that YouTube has failed to adjust some of its key platform features—search predictions and advertising—to comport with its new age restrictions. Until YouTube fully commits to living up to the policies it has on the books, minors who use the platform will continue to be exposed to potentially inappropriate or dangerous firearms content.