Google makes cash from videos that promote self-harm

GOOGLE is making money from shocking content promoting eating disorders and self-harm.

Adverts for major brands including Amazon, Microsoft, Deliveroo and Guess are being run alongside YouTube videos of people cutting themselves with razor blades, and talking about self-mutilation, a Daily Mail investigation has found.

Meanwhile, advertising for Benefit cosmetics, Exodus travel, Holiday Autos, Right Casino and the Charities Aid Foundation have been found on videos of skeletal women, encouraging viewers to starve themselves.

Google profits from the adverts itself, but also hands a cut of the cash directly to the people who posted the videos – including youngsters who slice themselves with razor blades in front of the camera. The technology giant said that it was careful about how it handled the shocking material.

A spokesman said: ‘Videos which encourage people to commit harmful or dangerous acts are against our policies and we remove them when flagged.

‘We also know that many people come to YouTube for emotional support and continually try to strike the right balance to enable people to talk honestly about the issues they’ve faced and provide support.

‘We are, however, careful to agerestrict material that might not be suitable for younger users.’

However, many of the videos seen by the Mail go considerably further than emotional support. Some of the self-harm videos are horrendously bloody films of people slowly slicing their arms in front of the camera with razor blades.

One user has published a series of shocking posts about performing ‘DIY’ surgery with knives, toenail clippers and scissors. The videos are not visually graphic, but in one, she claims to have performed a tummy tuck on herself using a carpet knife and scissors.

Adverts for Amazon, Microsoft, Deliveroo and Guess run alongside the posts.

Meanwhile, adverts for the Charities Aid Foundation were shown on a video slideshow of skeletal women, tagged ‘thinspo’ – a term used by eating disorder sufferers to describe what they see as motivational pictures of very thin women. The video is styled like a magazine shoot – but the women have jutting bones and rib cages.

The charity pulled its adverts from YouTube as soon as the Mail alerted it to the problem. A spokesman said: ‘The Charities Aid Foundation would like to thank the Daily Mail for bringing this case to our attention.’

Google places adverts using automated technology rather than human judgment, handing the people who post the content a cut of the revenues.

They receive up to £6.15 for every 1,000 views, and many videos are watched millions of times – although that pales in comparison with Google’s own share of the income.

Mental health charities condemned Google for profiting from the videos, which may trigger relapses in sufferers.

Stephen Buckley, of mental health charity Mind, said: ‘It is vital to recognise the huge danger created by any site or social media trend that promotes or glamorises self-harm, suicide or eating disorders.

‘These are incredibly serious problems. Social media sites should take their responsibilities seriously and do what they can to help people protect themselves from dangerous content.’

‘Incredibly serious problems’