CARY – Epic Games and other major companies pulled advertising from YouTube on Tuesday after reports emerged that comments from pedophiles had appeared in some children’s videos.
“Through our advertising agency, we have reached out to YouTube to determine actions they’ll take to eliminate this type of content from their service,” a spokesperson for Cary-based Epic told Wired.
Epic yanked ads promoting its globally popular “Fortnite” title.
“The companies acted after a YouTube user posted a video this week to point out this behavior,” the New York Times reported.
“For the most part, the videos targeted by pedophiles did not violate YouTube’s rules and were innocent enough — young girls doing gymnastics or stretching — but the videos became overrun with suggestive remarks. The commenters left time stamps for parts of the video that can appear compromising when paused — like a girl’s backside or bare legs.”
YouTube told Business Insider that it reacted quickly to the situation.
“Any content — including comments — that endangers minors is abhorrent and we have clear policies prohibiting this on YouTube,” a spokesperson for YouTube said.
“We took immediate action by deleting accounts and channels, reporting illegal activity to authorities and disabling violative comments. There’s more to be done, and we continue to work to improve and catch abuse more quickly.”
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The Times reported that alarms were sounded by a YouTube creator.
“The video highlighting the comments, posted by YouTube creator Matt Watson (also known as MattsWhatItIs) and viewed 1.75 million times since it went up on Sunday, accused YouTube of ‘facilitating the sexual exploitation’ of children,” The Times said.
“Watson said YouTube’s recommendation system also guided predators to other similar videos of minors — many of which carry advertisements for major brands.”
Read full stories about the situation at Business Insider and from The Times:
- ‘Fortnite’ ads have been yanked from YouTube after they featured on videos that acted like a ‘network for pedophiles’
- Advertisers boycott YouTube after pedophiles swarm comments on videos of children
