Exclusive

Drill music: YouTube remove more than 80 videos for inciting gang violence

15 November 2019, 07:51

The Met Police have been reviewing hundreds of drill music videos
The Met Police have been reviewing hundreds of drill music videos. Picture: PA

More than 80 videos thought to be inciting gang-violence have been removed from YouTube in the past six months - the majority being drill music videos.

The Met Police’s new Social Media Hub has asked the site to remove more than 100videos since May and have flagged and reviewed hundreds more for evidence and intelligence gathering.

It comes as LBC has been told gangs are increasingly using drill music to recruit and groom young members as part of their “PR” machines.

Detective Chief Inspector Jim McKee told LBC: "It defines the gang because actually gangs are actually very different to other organised crime groups.

"They want to be known, they want to demonstrate that they have control over this estate or this postcode.

"So the Drill is its PR machine. It's front of house, it's how it recruits, how it sets out what it's about, what it does and it wants to do."

Jordan Bedeau in a video for a song called 'Kill Confirmed'. He has been banned from mentioning death or injury in songs or on social media.
Jordan Bedeau in a video for a song called 'Kill Confirmed'. He has been banned from mentioning death or injury in songs or on social media. Picture: PA

The Met has been monitoring the increase in violent content online since September 2015. A central database of more than 3,000 indexed videos has been built which officers assess and use to gather intelligence.

Its Social Media Hub consists of 17 staff and monitor digital channels for harmful content.

Since the launch of the Social Media Hub, 673 cases of gang-related online content have been identified. 107 videos have been referred to YouTube for removal - with 83 taken down. They have arrested 18 people.

Detective Superintendent Mike West said: "Gangs try to outrival each other with content - what looks like a music video can actually contain explicit language used by gangs to threaten each other. They can include gestures of violence, with hand signals suggesting they are firing weapons and graphic descriptions of what they would do to each other.

"The speed at which an online disagreement can escalate into violence, often very serious violence, is staggering. Music role models and social media have a hugely powerful and positive impact, but when used in the wrong way the consequences can quite literally be deadly.

"We are not seeking to suppress freedom of expression through any kind of music, and we only ask for videos to be removed from social media which we believe raise the risk of violence.

"We are working very closely with all social media companies to act more quickly to remove the most harmful material. Close partnership working is a key part of how we address this going forward and we will continue to work with a range of partners to explore how we can tackle the issue."

DS Jim McKee is currently appearing in a documentary about drill music and County Lines.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Monks wearing orange robes praying

Thai woman filmed herself having sex with Buddhist monks and blackmailed them

Matthew Hall, 33, vanished while hiking in the Italian Alps.

Missing Brit, 33, who vanished while hiking in Italian Alps found dead near the spot where he sent his final text

Putting children in childcare during the summer holidays now costs an average of £1,076 per child

Parents shelling out £1k per child for summer holiday care

Steve Miller and co. will not be playing around the US after all this summer

The Steve Miller Band cancels entire 31 date tour 'because of the weather'

Acid attacks are on the rise in Britain.

Acid attacks on the rise in Britain as police warn of 'over the counter' corrosives

She took to TikTok, writing: "My phone got stolen today in London!!!!"

Moment model has her phone snatched out her hand for the second time in three months in 'safe' London neighbourhood

Qari Abdul Rauf (L) and Adil Khan (R) remain in the UK

Rochdale grooming gang leaders could be deported under 'deal' with Pakistan after UK lifts ban on direct flights

The man released rats near the Grand Mosque on Grimesthorpe Road, Sheffield.

Man 'doesn't know' why he released rats at Sheffield mosque

Bitcoin coin in front of cryptocurrency candlestick chart

NCA officer jailed for stealing Bitcoin now worth more than £4 million from Dark Web suspect

A few houses sit on a grassy area with mountain ranges in the background

Tsunami warning issued following 7.3 magnitude earthquake in Alaska

Shops are legally selling addictive nicotine pouches to children just weeks after single-use vapes were banned in an effort to cut their use among young people, Trading Standards has warned.

Shops legally selling addictive nicotine pouches to children weeks after single-use vapes banned

It is understood Deborah Turness made the comments when she was asked about the documentary during a routine staff meeting.

BBC News chief said members of Hamas government and militants are not the same amid documentary row

At some O2 stores, a security guard now opens the door for customers in response to a "growing number of thefts".

Tomorrow’s high street? Locked doors and security crackdowns as retailers fight shoplifting surge

Four boys and four girls, including one set of identical twins, have been delivered and are all doing well following treatment by a team in Newcastle, who pioneered the technique.

Eight babies born in the UK thanks to new IVF technique using DNA from three people to prevent devastating disease

Ex-Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, 39, had surgery after he broke his left leg during a match against Birmingham City in April 2013.

Ex-Premier League footballer sues doctor for £7m after ‘unnecessary’ surgery ‘brought career to an end’

Shocking footage showed the stage at the iconic European dance festival in Boom, Belgium, engulfed in flames on Wednesday afternoon

Tomorrowland main stage destroyed by fire hours before festival start