YouTube will block ads against creepy videos targeted at children (GOOG)

Peppa Pig

Multiple reports show that there's a growing trend on YouTube for disturbing content featuring children — like showing them tied up or wearing revealing clothing.
Another trend involves showing cartoon characters that are popular with children doing weird and disturbing things — like Peppa Pig drinking bleach.
YouTube will crack down on channels that make money from advertising by showing these kinds of videos.
It will ban predatory comments left under videos showing minors.

There's a weird category of YouTube video which involves mistreating kids for entertainment — like tying them up with tape, or showing them wearing vulnerable clothing. There's another, almost equally disturbing, trend towards showing popular cartoon characters like Peppa Pig doing weird things like drinking bleach.

That's according to multiple reports from blogger James Bridle, BuzzFeed, and The Verge, which found popular, verified channels showing disturbing content targeted at kids.

And YouTube is finally cracking down.

The site said it would remove videos that "may be endangering a child," even if the uploader didn't intend to cause harm. As a result, it's deleted 50 channels and thousands of videos.

In response to reports that people were leaving creepy comments under videos featuring kids, YouTube said it would block all predatory comments. The Verge found that, in the case of one home video showing two young girls doing gymnastics, a commenter had described the children as "beautiful." Another commenter asked if viewers had an erection.

YouTube has also stopped funding 3.5 million videos that feature disturbing cartoons. One example found by James Bridle shows the cartoon character Peppa Pig drinking bleach. YouTube has now blocked the video. YouTube said it would remove ads from inappropriate videos targeting families, "even if done for comedic or satirical purposes." Where cartoons are obviously targeted at adults, YouTube will only make the videos available to people who are logged in and at least 18 years old.

Johanna Wright, vice president of product management at YouTube, wrote: "These latest enforcement changes will take shape over the weeks and months ahead as we work to tackle this evolving challenge.

"We're wholly committed to addressing these issues and will continue to invest the engineering and human resources needed to get it right. As a parent and as a leader in this organization, I'm determined that we do."

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