YouTube is facing yet another big advertiser backlash, with Disney and Epic Games among the marketers said to have pulled their ad spending after the Google-owned video platform was accused of facilitating what a critic described as a “soft-core pedophilia ring.”
Vlogger Matt Watson, in a Feb. 17 video on his YouTube channel MattsWhatItIs, showed how YouTube’s algorithms enabled a secret “wormhole” for pedophiles, who posted sexual comments on videos of young girls and identified sections of the videos where they were in compromising positions. In some cases, users were trading child pornography in the comments section, he claimed.
“How does this exist?” a visibly upset Watson railed in the video. “For me, I want nothing to do with this platform that’s supporting this s—… It’s disgusting.”
In the wake of the revelations, Disney has suspended its advertising spending on YouTube, Bloomberg reported. (Disney reps did not respond to requests for comment.) Other advertisers that have frozen their YouTube ad spending include Epic Games, maker of “Fortnite,” and Nestle U.S., per the report.
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YouTube did not comment on advertisers suspending their spending. According to YouTube, after Watson posted his exposé, the service deleted accounts and channels that violated its policies and also reported illegal activity to law-enforcement authorities.
“Any content — including comments — that endangers minors is abhorrent, and we have clear policies prohibiting this on YouTube,” a YouTube rep said in a statement. “There’s more to be done, and we continue to work to improve and catch abuse more quickly.”
According to Watson, the videos in the “pedophile ring” had run ads from brands including McDonald’s, Lysol, Disney, Hershey Co.’s Reese’s, Purina, Ikea, and GNC.
It’s the latest in a string of “brand safety” problems for YouTube involving ads served with inappropriate content. In the fall of 2017, YouTube was hit by a backlash over ads on videos that attracted child predators. Earlier that year, evidence that YouTube was placing ads against violent and extremist videos led to a broad boycott by hundreds of advertisers, including P&G, AT&T, Dish Network and PepsiCo.
AT&T only last month announced that it planned to resume buying ads on YouTube, telling the New York Times that it had determined the platform was sufficiently “brand safe.”