Despite all the outcry from last year's restriction controversy, it looks like popular video sharing platform YouTube is still flagging and demonetizing topical content made my LGBT creators with little to no explaination. If that isn't enough to raise a few eyebrows, to add insult to injury, antigay ads are also showing up on videos containing LGBT-related content. And queer YouTube users aren't too happy about it...
\u201cI dont know what the fuck is going on at @YouTube but why the FUCK are people telling me that ads of this old fuck telling people being gay is wrong are running on my channel\u201d— elijah daniel (@elijah daniel) 1528091796
According to Forbes, trans vlogger Chase Ross noticed a particular series of antigay ads from a group called the Alliance Defending Freedom as early as two months ago.
\u201cThis is the ad that plays before a lot of my videos lollll thanks YouTube https://t.co/EgMDKYg3eL\u201d— Chase Ross (@Chase Ross) 1527801649
He reported the ads, but apparently they are still being played on videos having to do with LGBT topics. And now, other users in the LGBT YouTube community are noticing—and are rightfully upset.
\u201cFRIENDS\nIT'S FINALLY TIME!!!\n@ChaseRoss AND I HAVE SOMETHING SO EXCITING TO SHOW YOU!!\nJust in time for pride month, may we present to you, our retaliation toward @TeamYouTube censoring and attempting to eradicate Queer creators.\n#YouCantDeleteUs\nhttps://t.co/laqftih84Q\u201d— Aaron Ansuini \ud83d\udc9a\ud83c\udf4b\ud83e\udeb4\ud83c\udf31 (@Aaron Ansuini \ud83d\udc9a\ud83c\udf4b\ud83e\udeb4\ud83c\udf31) 1527909424
\u201cImagine being @YouTube, demonetizing LGBT content, and at the same time allowing anti-gay groups to advertise against the videos that weren\u2019t demonetized. And then, when called out, coming back with this cold, \u201cit\u2019s your fault\u201d response. https://t.co/hSMKVJYAHi\u201d— Nicola Foti (@Nicola Foti) 1528221222
\u201cSo creators are being demonetised left & right for next to nothing, yet we have to fill out a special form if we want to make sure we don't have anti-gay hate ads shown before our videos.\nYoutube what oh what are you doing https://t.co/OxH7GX3DGc\u201d— Gav (Miracle Of Sound) (@Gav (Miracle Of Sound)) 1528215391
\u201chow the actual fuck is YouTube automatically branding anything LGBTQ+ not suitable for advertising\n\nand yet allowing anti-gay (ANTI GAY?!! what is this the 1940s?!) adverts on our videos?!\n\ni mean that\u2019s just plain and simple homophobia right?! the platform we use is homophobic? https://t.co/4W5jYJ0dLP\u201d— dodie got weird (@dodie got weird) 1527843539
\u201cI made a video about how to block anti-gay ads on your YouTube channel with YouTube's half-assed, ridiculously confusing "solution": https://t.co/TX2BmH4rl0\u201d— Hank Green (@Hank Green) 1528148732
\u201cwhy is it on the creators when it should be on youtube to not accept ads from hate groups in the first place? https://t.co/kzHYON1Y4o\u201d— kylie sparks\ud83d\udda4\ud83e\udd42\u26be\ufe0f\ud83c\udfc0\u26bd\ufe0f (@kylie sparks\ud83d\udda4\ud83e\udd42\u26be\ufe0f\ud83c\udfc0\u26bd\ufe0f) 1528171897
According to YouTube's advertising guidelines, "advertisers have a choice about where to show their ads." However, creators seemingly do not have control over blocking ads (such as anti-gay promotions) from appearing alongside their videos.
YouTube responded in the below tweets:
\u201c@ChaseRoss Hi Chase. Re: ads, creators are not required to accept ads from groups they disagree with. You can set an ad exclusion for a specific advertiser URL, general ad content categories, or sensitive content categories. Here's the link: https://t.co/eF5JdYjrNG\u201d— Chase Ross (@Chase Ross) 1527801649
\u201c@ChaseRoss Hi, Chase. We\u2019ll discuss more with you live but want to follow up here as well: To be super clear, our algorithm doesn't use LGBTQ-related words to trigger demonetization by themselves, and we are regularly evaluating our systems to avoid mistakes like the one we made here. 1/3\u201d— Chase Ross (@Chase Ross) 1527711880
\u201c@ChaseRoss We understand how these mistakes can hurt and make it appear we don\u2019t support trans creators. Please know that we do deeply care about and support the trans community that's grown up on YouTube. 2/3\u201d— Chase Ross (@Chase Ross) 1527711880
\u201c@ChaseRoss We're constantly working to improve our systems and meet with a group of LGBTQ creators quarterly to find better ways to serve and support LGBTQ creators. We'd like to talk to you too\u2014we will follow up! 3/3\u201d— Chase Ross (@Chase Ross) 1527711880
