'Dark Peppa Pig' horror as fake YouTube videos target terrified kids
Twisted creators on YouTube are taking advantage of Peppa Pig's popularity, leaving children at risk of viewing inappropriate content. The platform removed two worrying examples after being contacted by The Mirror
With its wholesome storylines documenting everyday family life, Peppa Pig is a children's TV staple. And there was much excitement recently when fans were treated to the arrival of a new member of the family - a baby girl piglet named Evie.
But while the show itself is universally trusted by parents, watching it on YouTube can be a different matter. As a hugely popular cartoon for kids, Peppa Pig has been a target for twisted YouTube creators over the years. This week, a search by The Mirror found a clip called 'MLG Peppa Pig (PARODY)' within seconds, which showed the character holding a machine gun. Made eight years ago, it has been watched 18 million times. A second disturbing creation called 'Peppa does Drugs' showed the pig snorting cocaine.
In response to our investigation, a YouTube spokesperson told us "We've removed both videos from YouTube and terminated a channel for violating our child safety policies, which we rigorously enforce. Neither of the videos shared by The Mirror have ever appeared in the YouTube Kids app, our recommended experience for younger viewers.
"Our teams remain vigilant, and will continue to take further actions as needed." While YouTube maintains its main platform is not for children, research suggests 80 per cent of 3 to 17 year olds in the UK regularly watch it nonetheless, mainly on their phones and devices.
The tech giant says it prohibits content targeting young minors and families, which contains inappropriate themes, with videos flagged and reviewed using a combination of human reviewers and AI. YouTube places age restrictions and warnings on graphic content that doesn't violate guidelines but is inappropriate for users under 18 years of age.
Professor Sonia Livingstone, a social psychologist at the London School of Economics and expert on child online safety, told the BBC back in 2017: "It's perfectly legitimate for a parent to believe that something called Peppa Pig is going to be Peppa Pig.
"And I think many of them have come to trust YouTube... as a way of entertaining your child for ten minutes while the parent makes a phone call. I think if it wants to be a trusted brand then parents should know that protection is in place."
The so-called 'Dark Peppa' videos first surfaced in 2017, when an investigation by BBC Trending unearthed hundreds of YouTube videos that appeared to be episodes of Peppa Pig and Thomas the Tank Engine, but were actually parodies with inappropriate themes.
One video appeared to be an episode of Peppa Pig featuring a dentist with a huge syringe. Peppa's teeth got pulled out, and distressed crying could be heard on the soundtrack in the fake clip. Parent and journalist Laura June stumbled across the episode when she was looking for something for her three-year-old daughter to watch on YouTube.
"This is not like a video of an animated Peppa Pig getting high with Snoop Dogg (that is also available) made for adults to laugh at," she said. "These videos are for kids, intentionally injected into the stream via confusing tags, for them to watch instead of legit episodes of beloved shows."
While some of the videos use the characters in more innocent ways, others appear to be deliberately designed to trick children into watching disturbing content. One channel called "Toys and Funny Kids Surprise Eggs" had a landing page with a picture of a toddler alongside official-looking pictures of Peppa Pig, Thomas the Tank Engine, the Cookie Monster, Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Elsa from Frozen.
However, many of the videos on the channel at the time had titles like "BABY HULK BITES BABY ELSA", "NAKED HULK LOSES HIS PANTS" and "SPIDERBABY CUTS ELSA'S DRESS". Some of the darker ones also depict violence and frightening situations.
YouTube said that users can flag any problematic content by clicking on the "... More" button underneath a video and clicking "Report".
The BBC report led to the channels highlighted in the investigation being removed - including the one containing the video of fake Peppa visiting the dentist. The company also suggested that parents use the YouTube Kids app, which has a much higher bar for content allowed on the platform.
Parents are able to block specific content, set the age level of videos and report videos. YouTube also blocks search queries that are vulnerable to returning mature results.
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