Disney, Nestle, and Others Are Pulling YouTube Ads Following Child Exploitation Controversy (bloomberg.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Disney is said to have pulled its advertising spending from YouTube, joining other companies including Nestle, after a blogger detailed how comments on Google's video site were being used to facilitate a "soft-core pedophilia ring." Some of the videos involved ran next to ads placed by Disney and Nestle. All Nestle companies in the U.S. have paused advertising on YouTube, a spokeswoman for the company said Wednesday in an email. Video game maker Epic Games and German packaged food giant Dr. August Oetker KG also said they had postponed YouTube spending after their ads were shown to play before the videos. Disney has also withheld its spending.

On Sunday, Matt Watson, a video blogger, posted a 20-minute clip detailing how comments on YouTube were used to identify certain videos in which young girls were in activities that could be construed as sexually suggestive, such as posing in front of a mirror and doing gymnastics. Watson's video demonstrated how, if users clicked on one of the videos, YouTube's algorithms recommended similar ones. By Wednesday, Watson's video had been viewed more than 1.7 million times. Total ad spending on the videos mentioned was less than $8,000 within the last 60 days, and YouTube plans refunds, the spokeswoman said. Two years ago, Verizon, AT&T, Johnson & Johnson and other major companies pulled their ads from YouTube after learning that some of their ads surfaced next to extremist and violent content. Yesterday, YouTube released an updated policy about how it will handle content that "crosses the line" of appropriateness.

"Any content -- including comments -- that endangers minors is abhorrent and we have clear policies prohibiting this on YouTube. We took immediate action by deleting accounts and channels, reporting illegal activity to authorities and disabling violative comments," a spokeswoman for YouTube said in an email.

Comments

Re: And there's the opposite side of the coin

[Luckyo]

Except that she is very vocal about the fact that she has already crossed the puritan wing of SJW movement and got deplatformed from various platforms by these puritans in the past.

https://medium.com/@therealsex...

The moment the same powerful cabal gets a chance to finish wiping her digital presence off the internet, they will. They already showed no qualms in doing so in the past, to her or anyone else they deem guilty of "wrongthink".

YouTube won't pull the video

[rsilvergun]

they'll just de-monetize it and won't promote it (since they can't monetize it).

It's actually really annoying. Lots of good YouTube content has gone poof thanks to this. Stuff like Glove and Boots, Freaky Frank, Talking Classics and the like can't make a living on YouTube since the "adocalypse". A few channels made the jump to Pateron but that only works if you've already got a following. New up and comers needed that YouTube ad revenue to get going.

Somewhat annoyingly the hoards of anti-SJW channels seem to be doing just fine while stuff like Cult of Dusty has the bulk of his videos de-monetized. Though I do get a chuckle seeing an Advert for Donald Trump hitting me up for cash on Secular Talk's videos about Bernie.

Read the fucking article

[Orgasmatron]

Or rather, watch the damn video before commenting. This is probably among the 10 worst summaries I've read on this site, and I've been here just about every day since nearly the beginning.

This isn't a problem about parents uploading videos of their kids, or of kids uploading their own videos. It isn't about the videos at all.

The problem is that there is a side of youtube that most of us would never find on our own. But if you know it is there, you can get to it with one search and two clicks, and shown in the video.

Most of the videos there have been downloaded from other users and re-uploaded under a different account so that the parents and kids have no idea this is happening. The comments on the re-uploaded videos are full of creepy comments and timestamps to suggestive moments, or to other videos.

Once down the rabbit hole, all of the recommended video links are to other videos of the same type with the same disgusting comments and links.

Alex Jones

[bill_mcgonigle]

I'm just sitting here laughing because, as crazy as that bastard is, YouTube proudly deplatformed Alex Jones who is constantly railing against child sex-trafficking rings.

And all the while it turned out that YouTube was the one promoting such things with its technology and/or lack of care.

Not that I'm expecting one single moment of introspection from YouTube.

Re: And there's the opposite side of the coin

[AmiMoJo]

She is also an accomplished engineer. She has a great deal of skill when it comes to 3D modelling and printing/CNC, particularly an ability to conceive of a product and turn it into something workable quickly.

She has done a lot of China too, especially promoting open source. She is responsible for the first three open source hardware products out of China. She went to the manufacturer of some 3D printers, convinced them to open source the design, helped them do it and meet all the requirements, and got it certified. Gave them a nice sales boost too as westerners love open source hardware. She also helped take some of the stigma off Chinese products, demonstrating that they can be good quality and that the manufacturer can engage with the western world.

There is also the Sinobit, a single board computer for learning. She does a lot to help kids learn about engineering. The design is a little bit like the British Microbit board, but with a larger LED display because the British one is too small to display Chinese characters. Again, open source.

I'm amazed that she kept going after western journalists from Vice nearly destroyed her. They put her in real danger - I won't get into it because that would just be compounding the problem, but suffice to say many people would have gone into hiding after that.