YouTube advertising crackdown targets internet extremists

YOUTUBE is cracking down on users who post extremist and pirated videos by cutting off adverts for accounts with under 10,000 viewers.

The video website, owned by Google, will block advertising from appearing on channels that have not reached the threshold, in an attempt to stop people profiting from stolen and inappropriate content.

Major brands pulled business from YouTube over fears they were funding terrorism and illegal activity due to Google’s failure to police its videos. The Government, as well as Tesco, Royal Bank of Scotland and McDonald’s, removed their adverts from YouTube after they were found to appear alongside extremist, homophobic and anti-Semitic content.

Google was forced to apologise last month after the companies withdrew their adverts and MPs accused the service of “profiting from hatred”.

The company said the new policy should not have an impact on those who earn a living from YouTube and won’t affect money earned up until yesterday. “This new threshold gives us enough information to determine the validity of a channel,” said YouTube. “By keeping the threshold to 10,000 views, we also ensure that there will be minimal impact on our aspiring creators.”

The changes come as Google makes further attempts to police material, adding a “Fact Check” feature on its search engine to help prevent the spread of fake news.

It will use ratings such as “true”, “mostly false” and “pants on fire” from organisations such as PolitiFact and Snopes. “These checks are presented so people can make more informed judgments,” the company said.