Disney and Nestle have paused advertising on YouTube after reports of a pedophile network rampant in the comments of monetized videos, according to Bloomberg. Fortnite maker Epic Games has also paused some advertising, a spokesperson confirmed to CNBC.
The controversy stems from reports that pedophiles have latched onto videos of young children, often girls, marking time stamps that show child nudity and objectifying the children in YouTube’s comments section. The move is a familiar black eye for Google-owned YouTube, which frequently battles content moderation challenges and is losing market share of the digital advertising industry. The platform has come under fire before for selling ads against offensive and extremist content.
“We have paused all pre-roll advertising,” said a spokesperson from Epic. “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.”
Advertisers like Peloton and Grammarly issued similarly strong statements and are urging YouTube to resolve the latest content challenge.
“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 spokesperson for YouTube said in a statement. “There’s more to be done, and we continue to work to improve and catch abuse more quickly.”
YouTube declined to comment on any specific advertisers.
