Google and YouTube reportedly pull hundreds of Trump ads for violating policies
Google and YouTube have pulled hundreds of ads for Donald Trump over the last few months, according to 60 Minutes on CBS.
A review of the tech companies’ advertising archive found at least 300 Trump ads had been pulled from the platforms, mainly over the summer, after they had been found to violate advertising policies.
In an interview with 60 Minutes, YouTube chief executive officer Susan Wojcicki confirmed that there were “ads of President Trump that were not approved to run on Google or YouTube”.
Facebook, Google, YouTube and Twitter have faced scrutiny over political ads. In October Twitter announced it was banning political advertising on its platform.
Wojcicki was also asked about a Trump ad that falsely accuses former vice-president and Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden of offering military aid to Ukraine in exchange for the firing of a prosecutor investigating a company tied to his son, Hunter.
Biden’s campaign asked Facebook to remove the ad earlier this year. Facebook denied the request, arguing its decision was “grounded in Facebook’s fundamental belief in free expression, respect for the democratic process”.
Wojcicki told 60 Minutes the ad also appeared on YouTube and was not in violation of the company’s policies.
“Can a politician lie on YouTube?” 60 Minutes presenter Leslie Stahl asked.
“For every single video, I think it’s really important to look at it,” Wojcicki said. “Politicians are always accusing their opponents of lying.
“That said, it’s not OK to have technically manipulated content that would be misleading.”