"Fractal wood burning" refers to using hacked microwave power supplies to char Lichtenberg figures into wood. It is extraordinarily dangerous, and dozens of people have been killed following instructions contained in viral videos. Ann Reardon recently posted a thorough debunking of the method, which quickly became popular in its own right—a timely and essential remedy to a lethal problem that social media companies are under no obligation to deal with themselves.
But YouTube has removed Reardon's video, claiming it is harmful and dangerous—while leaving up fractal wood burning videos demonstrating methods that have killed, at latest count, 34 people in America.
The presumed "explanation" is that YouTube's moderation is automated, and that this removal was likely triggered by keywords or abusive flagging by the viral (and often outright sinister) "crafts" channels that Reardon's video implicitly criticizes. But that's not what YouTube says in its takedown notification, and you can still get served these completely lethal instructions with obvious search terms there.
Dead before you hit the floor.
Reardon simply reposted her well-researched debunking again with an explanation: "your life is more important than my channel".
