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After YouTube’s terrifying film ad backlash, five other online controversies that put the video giant in the spotlight

The US video-sharing website was forced to remove a jump-scare ad for the film The Nun following backlash on social media. It’s not the first time YouTube has come under fire for shocking content uploaded online

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The YouTube jump-scare ad for horror film The Nun proved too frightening for viewers. Photo: YouTube/The Nun

A scary YouTube ad had viewers so terrified this week that it had to be taken down because it breached the video-sharing website’s advertising policy.

The piece begins with a volume sign, its familiar white bar dancing left then right before finally switching to mute. For one second, there is only the mute sign against a black background. And then, abruptly, a grisly, zombie-like face in a nun’s habit leaps at the viewer, accompanied by a piercing sound.

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A scene from The Nun. Photo: New Line Cinema
A scene from The Nun. Photo: New Line Cinema

The jump-scare ad for the horror film The Nun is over in an instant, but it apparently startled many people. After receiving numerous complaints, YouTube decided to take the ad down.

It is not the first controversy to involve the US video-sharing website. These are some of the worst:

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Logan Paul in Japan’s suicide forest. Photo: YouTube/Logan Paul
Logan Paul in Japan’s suicide forest. Photo: YouTube/Logan Paul
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