A number of companies have halted their spending on ads on YouTube over fears that the platform is facilitating child exploitation.
Over the weekend, video blogger Matt Watson posted a lengthy clip in which he explained how YouTube have been monetising the exploitation of children.
In the video, Watson explained that comments on the site were being used to alert users to videos which may feature young children partaking in activities that could be considered by some to be sexually suggestive.
Thanks to the site’s algorithm, clicking on one of these videos would soon lead to a wormhole of suggested videos which featured similar content.
As a result, many of these monetised videos had been receiving an influx of users, effectively allowing the uploaders of this controversial content to profit of the exploitation of children.
Now, as CNBC reports, a number of big-name companies, including Nestle, Disney, and Fortnite creators Epic Games, have all suspended advertising spending on the video platform.
“We have paused all pre-roll advertising,” explained a spokesperson for Epic Games. “Through our advertising agency, we have reached out to Google/YouTube to determine actions they’ll take to eliminate this type of content from their service.”
In a statement from YouTube, the company explained that they were taking swift action to stamp out such behaviour from its users.
“Any content – including comments – that endangers minors is abhorrent and we have clear policies prohibiting this on YouTube,” a spokesperson explained. “We took immediate action by deleting accounts and channels, reporting illegal activity to authorities and disabling violative comments.”
In response, YouTube updated their content policy, clarifying their strike system, and ensuring that users are aware of what sort of content is considered inappropriate or not.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that the service has come under fire for the monetised content that it hosts, explaining in 2017 how it would be no longer monetising videos that facilitate hate speech.
Check out Matt Watson’s shocking video:
