The YouTube app and YouTube Kids app are displayed on an iPhone in New York on April 25, 2018.Jenny Kane/The Associated Press
Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube said on Thursday it had disabled comments on videos featuring minors, a week after a magazine reported the platform displayed ads next to videos that showed exploitation of children.
“Over the past week, we disabled comments from tens of millions of videos that could be subject to predatory behaviour,” YouTube said in a blog post.
The report by Wired magazine said that commercials ran alongside offensive videos and comments prompted companies such as food and beverage maker Nestle SA and carrier AT&T Inc to pause advertising on YouTube earlier this week.
“While we have been removing hundreds of millions of comments for violating our policies, we had been working on an even more effective classifier, that will identify and remove predatory comments,” YouTube said.