Google ‘must do more’ over extremist videos

Web giant hears action to root out inappropriate content is essential as advertising exodus grows

Google has been told that it is not enough to be sorry, after the web giant failed to explain how it would tackle extremist content on YouTube. Matt Brittin, Google’s European chief, apologised for advertisements appearing alongside inappropriate videos, after several advertisers pulled out of the website, but MPs including Labour’s Yvette Cooper said the company had to do “far more, far faster” to deal with illegal content.

By Sam Dean and Hayley Dixon GOOGLE has been told that saying sorry is not enough after failing to explain how it will tackle the extremist content that has cost the company a growing number of advertisers.

Matt Brittin, the web giant’s European chief, apologised yesterday to anyone who had found their adverts appearing on its YouTube site with inappropriate content, which is said to have included videos of hate preachers and homophobic comment.

But as more companies pulled advertising even after his apology, including the outdoor activities centre Go Ape, MPs said his comments did not go far enough. Mr Brittin declined three times to say whether Google would employ people to search actively for extremist content, rather than its current policy of relying on users to flag it up on sites it owns, including YouTube.

Yvette Cooper, a Labour MP and chairman of the home affairs select committee, said Google “can afford to do far more, far faster to deal with illegal and hate-filled content online”.

“This apology from Google doesn’t go far enough,” she said. “They need to say whether they will be paying back any of that advertising revenue and to answer our questions on what more they are doing to root out extremism or illegal activity on YouTube, because they are still failing to do enough to remove illegal or hate-filled content.”

Marks & Spencer followed yesterday in the footsteps of McDonald’s, L’Oreal, the BBC and a string of high street banks, including HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds, in stopping its advertising. Google executives are due to appear before the Cabinet Office this week to explain why government adverts, which have also been pulled, have appeared on extremist content. The advertising giant Havas has also suspended its advertising, while agency GroupM, which is part of the world’s largest advertising agency WPP, had urged Google to apologise.

A Marks & Spencer spokesman said: “In order to ensure brand safety, we are pausing activity across Google platforms whilst the matter is worked through.” Audi, Tesco and Sainsbury’s are among the other big advertisers to take similar steps, while Sky said “it is clearly unacceptable for ads to be appearing alongside inappropriate content”.

Speaking at an advertising industry conference in London, Mr Brittin said: “I would like to apologise to our partners and advertisers who might have been affected by their ads appearing on controversial content. We take our responsibilities to these industry issues very seriously.”

He said that his company would “raise the bar” on what is considered safe content, as well as simplifying controls available to advertisers and investing more money in enforcement.

But he failed to explain whether that money would be spent on employing people to root out inappropriate content. The company says that 400 hours of video content is uploaded to YouTube every minute, making it hard to monitor the platform continuously.

An investigation by The Times has raised fears that advertising spending is finding its way into the hands of rape apologists, anti-Semites and hate preachers through commercials on the video-sharing site. Those adverts earn the poster of a video around £6 for every 1,000 views it generates.

Ms Cooper said the company was failing to wake up to the “seriousness and toxicity of some of the videos they are still hosting”.