Google Accused Of Monetising “Dangerous” Videos

Two US Attorneys General (AGs) have accused Google of making a profit from harmful and even illegal content on YouTube.

In an open letter to Kent Walker, the general counsel at Google, AG for Nebraska Jon Bruning and AG for Oklahoma Scott Pruitt have highlighted the fact that Google puts advertising on videos that promote “rogue” online pharmacies and breach copyright.

They have requested more details on the number of such videos and the steps Google takes to remove them from YouTube. They are also interested in the amount of money Google has made from questionable content that was later removed.

Attorneys General have said they will resort to legally binding subpoenas if this information is not provided.

See no evil

Last month at the National Association of Attorneys General meeting, AG for Mississippi Jim Hood urged Google to improve the way it combats advertising of illegal and counterfeit goods. Now, two more heads of US law enforcement are looking into the way Google makes money.

“As we understand the process, video producers are asked prior to posting whether they will allow YouTube to host advertising with the video and, for those who consent, the advertising revenue is shared between the producer and Google. While this practice itself is not troubling, we were disappointed to learn that many such monetized videos posted to YouTube depict or even promote dangerous or illegal activities,” wrote the chief legal advisors to the state government.

Examples of such content include videos promoting “rogue” pharmacies that sell controlled drugs without prescription, and counterfeit merchandise stores. YouTube is also hosting plenty of ‘how-to’ guides for forging driver licenses and passports. In all three cases, Attorneys General found that Google was placing sidebar and embedded advertising on the corresponding YouTube pages.

The AGs said they were “concerned” Google would enter a commercial partnership with the producers of such videos, especially in the case of ‘how-to’ guides, since they could facilitate further illegal activities “ranging from underage drinking to terrorism”.

This is not the first time Google is linked to illegal medication sales. Back in 2011, the company had to pay $500 million (£303m) to the US Department of Justice, in order to settle allegations it allowed Canadian online pharmacies to target ads at US consumers.

Corporate responsibility

“We understand that YouTube is an open platform and that not all content can or should be policed. Nevertheless, the fact that Google actively seeks to profit from the posting of these types of videos on YouTube – a website known to be particularly popular among children and teens – is very troubling,” said the letter.

The AGs want to take a closer look at the way Google sells advertising, and demand information on the number of videos that were removed from YouTube in the last 30 months for violation of its policies regarding illegal content. They also want to know how many of these videos were monetised by Google, and how much money they earned.

Google is also asked to describe in detail the measures it had to take, if any, to avoid monetising illegal content and remove paid advertising from such content. And finally, the company has to explain thousands of videos removed from the platform after an unflattering article was published by the USA Today in June. “The information you provide in response to these requests will help guide our future inquiry into this topic,” wrote Walker and Bruning.

In June, defending the choice of websites displayed in its search results, Google said that the company is not responsible for policing the Internet.

“Search results reflect the web and what’s online – the good and the bad.  Filtering a website from search results won’t remove it from the web, or block other websites that link to that website.  It’s not Google’s place to determine what content should be censored – that responsibility belongs with the courts and the lawmakers,” wrote legal director Adam Barea on the Google policy blog.

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