Dado Ruvic/Reuters
Disney, Nestle, and the maker of the Fortnite video game have all paused advertising on YouTube after a blogger pointed out that commenters were objectifying children on the platform. A Nestle spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that all of its U.S. companies have ceased advertising on YouTube, and Fortnite-maker Epic Games said it has “reached out to Google/YouTube to determine actions they’ll take to eliminate this type of content from their service.” In a statement, YouTube said it immediately deleted the accounts and channels associated with the behavior and reported the activity to authorities.
“Any content—including comments—that endangers minors is abhorrent and we have clear policies prohibiting this on YouTube,” the company said. According to Bloomberg, a blogger named Matt Watson posted a video on Sunday that explained how certain YouTube commenters were identifying certain clips of young girls doing “sexually suggestive” activities—like posing in front of mirrors or doing gymnastics.