Drill video naming murder victims banned by YouTube

YouTube has taken down a video by a drill group which appears to name people they claim to have killed.

Drill artists don’t normally name names in their music but in Zone 2’s No Censor, a number of people are mentioned.

They include gang members who have been killed.

A statement from YouTube given to Newsbeat says it “[does] not want our platform used to incite violence.”

Although the original video has been removed, duplicates have been uploaded and – at the time of writing – are still up on YouTube.

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Drill music has always been controversial, with some people saying it glorifies and encourages violence between rival gangs.

Talking about other people’s deaths is nothing new in the genre.

But social media reaction to the song has been one of shock because of the number of people it names explicitly.

It’s more normal for names to be taken out or people to be alluded to but not named outright.

The group responsible – Zone 2 – have millions of streams on Spotify and are also on other platforms such as Apple Music.

The video to No Censor shows the members covering their faces in balaclavas.

Zone 2 are based around Peckham in south-east London, whose rivals are Moscow 17.

One of the people mentioned in their song is Moscow 17 member Siddique Kamara – also known as Incognito and SK.

He was stabbed to death last summer at the age of 23, and a man was cleared of his murder earlier this year.

One line in No Censor appears to be by Incognito’s cousin, known as Trizzac – who apparently switched allegiances from Moscow 17 to Zone 2.

“Why’d you think that they call me Judas? I laugh and giggle at my dead opp cousin (Incog).”

YouTube’s full statement:

“We have developed policies specifically to help tackle videos related to knife crime in the UK and are continuing to work constructively with experts on this issue.

“We work with the Metropolitan Police, The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, the Home Office, and community groups to understand this issue and ensure we are able to take action on gang-related content that infringe our Community Guidelines or break the law.

“We have a dedicated process for the police and the Prison Service to flag videos directly to our teams because we often need specialist context from law enforcement to identify real-life threats.

“Along with others in the UK, we share the deep concern about this issue and do not want our platform used to incite violence.”

Newsbeat has contacted the Metropolitan Police for comment and is awaiting a response. We’re also waiting to hear from Zone 2.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has previously blamed some videos – and singled out drill music – for fuelling a surge in murders and violent crime in London.

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