Major companies have had to bring down their ads from YouTube due to a raise in concern over inappropriate comments that may be posing a threat to the protection of minors
This comes after video blogger Matt Watson raised concerns that pedophiles were using the platform to trade information and draw attention to clips of young girls.
Watson said the comments sections on some YouTube posts that featured girls performing things like gymnastics or yoga were being exploited by “a soft-core pedophilia ring.”
Users made suggestive comments and highlighted moments in which girls were in “compromising positions”.
The blogger’s concerns gained traction, being viewed about 1.9 million times since Sunday while causing action by some of the big companies such as Disney and Nestle. The two companies’ ads were also used as examples on Watson’s video.
Nestle, which owns brands like Kit-Kat and Nespresso, decided to pause its advertising on YouTube.
Disney also suspended its advertising on YouTube, according to Bloomberg, which cited unidentified people with knowledge of the matter.
On its part, YouTube “took immediate action by deleting accounts and channels, reporting illegal activity to authorities and disabling comments on tens of millions of videos that include minors,” said a spokesperson for the video platform.
Other companies that halted their advertising with YouTube as a result of the concerns include: Fortnite game company, Epic Games as well as German foods company, Dr. Oetker.