Online right fumes after YouTube ad crackdown
Online right fumes after YouTube ad crackdown
BY ALI BRELAND - 09/30/17 04:27 PM EDT
YouTube is in hot water with conservative users and
creators, with the Google-owned video giant accused of discriminating against
the right as YouTube takes ads off content that it says violates the terms of
service.
Last month, YouTube quietly made moves to remove
advertisements on certain types of content that it says is not consistent with
its terms of service. YouTube doesn’t
serve ads on demonetized videos, meaning big hits to the bottom line for
conservative YouTube personalities.
YouTube says that its efforts are aimed at cracking down
on hate speech, but conservative and right-wing video creators say they’re
frustrated by the changes.
The video streaming service began the initiative after
several major companies like Coca-Cola, Amazon and Microsoft pulled their ads
from YouTube in the spring after the Times of London noticed that advertisements
for their brands appeared alongside videos of hateful, offensive or even
pro-terrorist content.
YouTube creators who had advertisements removed from
their content would also no longer receive payment from YouTube on those
videos.
YouTube had occasionally demonetized and flagged certain
types of content in the past, most notably when it cut mega-popular videogame
personality Pewdiepie from making money on the platform for using racial slurs.
But August marked an uptick in YouTube’s ad crackdown across the platform.
Luke Rudkowski, a YouTube video creator who has made his
name chronicling various far-right figures, released a video on August 10
claiming that hundreds of his videos had been demonetized at the beginning of
the month, effectively killing his ability to make money on the platform.
“I haven’t even been cursing in any of my videos,”
Rudkowski said, acknowledging that many of his videos are controversial. “And
then YouTube invites people for this platform, which I joined and put my entire
life into. And then YouTube just says ‘you know? We’re going to change our
terms and services.”
YouTube says that while it respects principles of free
speech, its policies are at aimed at making sure advertisers' needs are met.
"There’s a difference between the free expression
that lives on YouTube and the content that brands have told us they want to
advertise against," a Youtube spokesperson said. "Part of giving
advertisers choice means giving them the choice to not run ads on sensitive
content."
The company said that creators who feel that their
content was incorrectly classified can file an appeal with Youtube.
But “Diamond and Silk,” two prominent pro-Trump YouTube
creators who were hit hard by the site’s demonetization policies, believe they
were targeted for their support for Trump.
“Wow was it ok to monetize our videos for the past two
years and now those same videos are no longer eligible for monetization?” the
two women, who have also appeared regularly on Fox News, asked.
YouTube’s ad changes have reached the wider conservative
media, adding fuel to the right’s belief that tech giants are discriminating
against conservative views.
“I think it would be insane to suggest there’s not an
active effort to censor conservative and independent views,” Lauren Southern, a
conservative internet personality, told the Daily Caller.
“There’s no merit hiring, there’s no support of free
speech and there certainly is not an equal representation of political views at
these companies,” Southern said, criticizing Silicon Valley.
Southern, who has recently focused on criticizing
migration to Europe and even tried to block a rescue boat in one high-profile
incident, boasts a significant presence on YouTube. Many of her videos appear
to be demonetized.
But the crackdown hasn’t just been limited to
conservative and right-wing voices. Non-political content is also being
demonetized, creating another political headache for YouTube as it tries to
convince advertisers that its platform is safe for their brands.
Last year, popular YouTube creator Philip DeFranco
claimed that one his videos had been demonetized. YouTube said that DeFranco’s
video had been demonetized because he swore and used graphic video footage,
according to DeFranco.
“I love YouTube. It’s well within their damn rights to do
this. It is their website. It is also incredibly f--king concerning,” DeFranco
said in a video. “By taking away monetization, it is a form of censorship.”
Others have noticed that some LGBT content is being
demonetized, as well. The Outline pointed out a video by YouTube video creator
Arielle Jane from August that had been demonetized for no clear reason.
Earlier in the year, YouTube sparked controversy among some
of its creators when its filtering tools flagged a video of two women
exchanging wedding vows. The company quickly announced that it would make
changes to the tools, which it said were “incorrectly filtering videos.”
YouTube’s ad crackdown, apparently meant to assuage
advertisers who were spooked by earlier controversies, reflects an ongoing
battle to make companies comfortable alongside user-generated content.
“Ten years ago advertisers wouldn’t run their ads
alongside user generated content like on message boards,” says Jason Kint, CEO
of the media trade association Digital Content Next.
YouTube is now caught in a bind as it struggles to
crackdown on harmful content, without alienating popular video creators and
their viewers.
“Advertisers are reconsidering whether they want to be
anywhere near user-generated content, let alone the controversial pollution
which litters Facebook and YouTube,” Kint said. “The trick is making sure they
don’t also cut off the productive creators that are the innovators and artists
of our media.”
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