Video violence
8:44am Tuesday 31st July 2007 in News By Staff Reporter
attack: A punch is thrown at a teenager in a video posted on internet site YouTube
THIS violent attack on a youth in Bolton town centre is part of a growing tide of bullying and fighting videos being posted on the internet.
A teenager falls to the ground after being punched in the face by another youngster during the day in Deansgate while the assault is captured on a mobile phone by a bystander.
The 20-second clip, entitled, "fat punch! check this out" has been viewed by more than 5,500 people since being added to internet site YouTube in April.
The footage is one of hundreds of shocking films featuring brutal attacks by youngsters which are being fuelled by crazes dubbed "happy slapping" and "fight clubbing".
A BBC documentary last night featured a police chief calling for the YouTube website to pull the plug on offensive videos and a politician said the website was profiting from violence by youngsters.
Police in Bolton say they are not aware of a particular problem in the town and urged people to use the internet responsibly.
Supt Andy Durkin said: "This is not unique to Bolton and no more of a problem here than in other towns and cities.
"We can't police it as such because it's usually very difficult to identify victims and offenders.
"The problem with irresponsible actions like this is that it encourages other to do similar things.
"The majority of people do use mass-viewing websites sensibly, but a small percentage post footage which others find offensive."
YouTube, which is owned by Google, said it did not employ anybody to police videos and relied on users to identify inappropriate content, which it would then remove.
"Sadly as with any form of communication, there is a tiny minority of people who try to break the rules," a spokesman for YouTube said.
"On YouTube these rules prohibit content like pornography or gratuitous violence. We don't want that sort of material on our site, and nor does our community.
"If the police ask us for information then we will co-operate, so long as they follow the correct legal process that the Government introduced."
