PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.

PCMag UK

YouTube Pulls Exploitative Child Videos as Advertisers Flee

The company is also working to fix an issue with its autocomplete feature that returned 's*x with kids' on a search for 'how to have.'

Angela Moscaritolo
 & Angela Moscaritolo Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

Our Expert
LOOK INSIDE PC LABS HOW WE TEST
65 EXPERTS
43 YEARS
41,500+ REVIEWS

YouTube is doing damage control as advertisers flee the platform over revelations that their ads have appeared alongside pedophilic and exploitative child content.

The Google-owned video-sharing platform told VICE News it has shut down more than 270 accounts and removed more than 150,000 disturbing videos of children in recent days. The company is also working to fix an issue with its autocomplete feature that returned "s*x with kids" on a search for "how to have," according to Engadget.

YouTube did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment but told VICE News it has, over the past week, also disabled the comments on more than 625,000 videos, which had been "targeted by child predators." In that time, the company has also "removed ads from nearly 2 million videos and over 50,000 channels masquerading as family-friendly content," YouTube reportedly said in a statement.

Those actions come after British newspaper The Times last week reported that ads from big-name brands like Adidas, eBay, Amazon, and candy maker Mars were appearing on YouTube videos "showing scantily clad children," including "young girls filming themselves in underwear, doing the splits, brushing their teeth or rolling around in bed." Most of the videos were likely posted innocently by kids, but had reportedly "attracted comments from hundreds of pedophiles," prompting several companies — including Mars and Adidas — to pull their ads from YouTube.

This is the second time in less than a year advertisers have fled YouTube. In March, the British government, along with telecom giants AT&T and Verizon, removed their ads from the platform after discovering that they may have appeared next to content promoting terrorism and hate.

Around that time, Google pledged to more closely monitor advertisements that appear alongside YouTube videos, and give brands more control over where their ads appear.

Meanwhile, Google told Engadget it's not sure why YouTube's autocorrect system returned the aforementioned "profoundly disturbing" results; it removed them as soon as it was alerted to the problem. "We are investigating this matter to determine what was behind the appearance of this autocompletion," a Google said.

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes. 

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app. 

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth. 

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light. 

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

Read the latest from Angela Moscaritolo

Read full bio