YouTube removes advertising from two million child-unfriendly videos

YouTube turned off the ads on about two million videos last week. In addition, 150,000 videos have been taken down and 50,000 channels have been closed. Those numbers have skyrocketed in recent days. Major advertisers threaten to walk away because of the fuss about the videos.

In many cases, these are videos in which children can be seen in scantily clad clothes, where people have posted shocking pedophile comments, Vice reports. In other videos, children can be seen, for example, being tied up or undergoing other unsavory things.

YouTube was discredited a few weeks ago about children’s videos, when it turned out that many videos unsuitable for children appeared in related videos next to suitable content. As a result, children quickly click through to the inappropriate videos. In addition to the aforementioned videos with children, there are many films aimed at children, for example with characters from children’s series who undergo torture or are involved in gory situations. The video service said last week that such videos would be taken offline in large numbers.

Due to the fuss, major advertisers are threatening to walk away, because they are afraid that their expressions will be seen in inappropriate videos, Financial Times reports. The videos violate rules YouTube has had for some time, but the video site has removed many more videos and channels in recent weeks than before.

YouTube has also intervened with the autocomplete feature. Those who entered ‘how to have’ were suggested to search for ‘how to have s*x with your kids’, Buzzfeed reports. Such results are no longer visible.