Several large companies have stopped advertising on YouTube. The reason for this was a research by the video blogger Matt Watson, who has addressed an obvious pedophilia problem on the platform and thus triggered a storm of indignation. Watson's video revolves around YouTube clips showing kids doing gymnastics, eating ice cream or swimsuits, and posting or commenting on lewd comments.
Nestlé and Dr. Oetker have confirmed to the SPIEGEL that they have discontinued their advertising on YouTube for the time being. The same applies to Disney, according to "Bloomberg". The Press Department of Dr. med. Oetker justifies her move by emphasizing that "our company's advertising is placed solely in an ethical environment."
Matt Watson had released a 20-minute video on his channel "MattsWhatItIs" on Sunday, which has been called up almost two million times. In it, he reports furiously about a "softcore pedophile ring" that can be found on YouTube through a kind of "wormhole" in just five clicks.
Certain search terms therefore lead to videos of young girls who complete gymnastics exercises in front of the camera or dance lightly dressed, for example. If you click on one of these videos as a user, YouTube suddenly only suggests such videos, they say: You see kids doing gymnastics, games and dancing, in clips that were uploaded innocently, but now with highly problematic comments below them on the platform.
"Why is nothing done about it?"
In the comments, for example, users post timestamps with exact information about where the videos are, where the children are in a particular posture or make a particular movement. The users sexualize the seen, post links to video material on other channels or exchange contact data with each other.
YouTube informs SPIEGEL of the allegations: "Any content - including comments - endangering minors is disgusting, and we have clear guidelines that prohibit this on YouTube." The company shut down accounts and channels as soon as they were discovered, "reported illegal activity to the relevant authorities, and disabled commenting on millions upon millions of such videos showing minors." He wants to continue to do so in the future, "in order to recognize such abuse faster."
Watson says in his video that he was "disgusted": "How could YouTube not see that?" he asks, and, "Why is nothing done about it?". After all, he is by no means the first to report it - the problem is well known. Under the hashtag #WakeupYoutube ("Wake Up, YouTube") has been written to the cause for years.
A customer calls advertising environment "ethically highly objectionable"
In fact, as early as 2017, there was a debate about videos of scantily-dressed children who apparently attracted pedophiles and YouTube as a promotional environment. As a result, even then stopped media reports, several companies, including Amazon, Deutsche Bank or Adidas, their advertising on the platform. Also in 2017, advertisers had withdrawn their campaigns from YouTube because their ads had appeared alongside videos by extremists.
Also Matt Watson criticized in his clip specifically the advertising in the environment of the videos. His clip includes ads by Disney, dr. Oetker and a furniture store to see. While money is earned here, according to a Watson commentary, much more harmless videos would be de-monetized for vain reasons. If a video is demmonetized, the advertising is canceled, which means that the creator can no longer earn money with it. For him, Watson says, at least, the clip could be the last he released on the platform.
"We have stopped immediately after advertising this case, all advertising on YouTube," said Dr. med. Oetker, "and asked the company to explain how it could happen that our corporate ad was placed in an environment that we strictly reject and consider ethically highly objectionable." The company expects YouTube to immediately delete such risky posts and that such "will not be repeated in the future".
Nestlé also says it has decided to stop advertising on YouTube worldwide as long as the investigation continues and "until we can be sure that Nestlé's advertising standards are met."