Google is facing a wave of angry customers after advertisements from major brands and the U.K. government appeared alongside content from hate preachers and extremist groups.
Google and YouTube are facing heat after the UK government accused the company of profiting from hateful videos.
The British government has summoned the tech firm to explain itself after a newspaper investigation showed that taxpayer-funded ads were used on inappropriate content including videos from former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
YouTube is coming under fire for hiding LGBT-related videos in its ‘Restricted Mode’ that is designed to screen out objectionable content.
“People are just starting to realize the extent of it, particularly in regards to LGBT-related content and that is the restricted content mode,” explained British video blogger and activist Rowan Ellis, in a YouTube post Thursday. “It is filtering out a hell of a lot of LGBT content – I have had around 40 videos taken off so that you can’t see them if you’re in Restricted Mode.”
The blogger’s YouTube channel has racked up more than 1.4 million views. Her videos address “pop culture from a feminist and queer perspective,” according to her bio on YouTube.
"We have placed a temporary restriction on our YouTube advertising pending reassurances from Google that government messages can be delivered in a safe and appropriate way," the British government said in a statement.
"It is very clear that this is not the case at the moment," he wrote.
Google and Facebook own huge chunks of the digital advertising business, and major brands are spending an increasing share of their ad budgets on their platforms. Many of their gains have come at the expense of newspapers and magazines.
Google and YouTube are facing heat after the UK government accused the company of profiting from hateful videos.
The British government has summoned the tech firm to explain itself after a newspaper investigation showed that taxpayer-funded ads were used on inappropriate content including videos from former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
YouTube is coming under fire for hiding LGBT-related videos in its ‘Restricted Mode’ that is designed to screen out objectionable content.
Image by The Times
“People are just starting to realize the extent of it, particularly in regards to LGBT-related content and that is the restricted content mode,” explained British video blogger and activist Rowan Ellis, in a YouTube post Thursday. “It is filtering out a hell of a lot of LGBT content – I have had around 40 videos taken off so that you can’t see them if you’re in Restricted Mode.”
The blogger’s YouTube channel has racked up more than 1.4 million views. Her videos address “pop culture from a feminist and queer perspective,” according to her bio on YouTube.
"We have placed a temporary restriction on our YouTube advertising pending reassurances from Google that government messages can be delivered in a safe and appropriate way," the British government said in a statement.
"It is very clear that this is not the case at the moment," he wrote.
Google and Facebook own huge chunks of the digital advertising business, and major brands are spending an increasing share of their ad budgets on their platforms. Many of their gains have come at the expense of newspapers and magazines.