YouTube axes more than 400 channels over child exploitation controversy

It's also disabled comments on tens of millions of videos.

Marrian Zhou Staff Reporter

Marrian Zhou is a Beijing-born Californian living in New York City. She joined CNET as a staff reporter upon graduation from Columbia Journalism School. When Marrian is not reporting, she is probably binge watching, playing saxophone or eating hot pot.

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Marrian Zhou

Feb. 21, 2019 8:49 a.m. PT

gettyimages-1125003275-594x594 — YouTube has removed over 400 channels for comments they left on videos.
Raphael Knipping via Getty Images

YouTube is trying hard to clear out disturbing content.

Over the past three days, YouTube has disabled comments on tens of millions of videos and terminated over 400 channels for comments they left on videos, and reported illegal comments to law enforcement, the video platform told creator Philip DeFranco on Wednesday. A YouTube spokesperson has confirmed the numbers in an email statement.

UPDATE: @YouTube @YTCreators left a comment and provided an update on what they’ve done to combat horrible people on the site in the last 48 hours.
TLDR: Disabled comments on tens of millions of videos. Terminated over 400 channels. Reported illegal comments to law enforcement. pic.twitter.com/zFHFfkX9FD
— Philip DeFranco (@PhillyD) February 21, 2019

This comes after DeFranco posted a video talking about YouTube's "predator problem."

YouTube has come under fire for allowing disturbing content. Disney, Epic Games and Nestle pulled ad spending from YouTube this week after blogger Matt Watson showed how comments on the platform were being used by a "soft-core pedophelia ring" to share child exploitation videos.

"Any content - including comments - that endangers minors is abhorrent and we have clear policies prohibiting this on YouTube. We took immediate action by deleting accounts and channels, reporting illegal activity to authorities and disabling comments on tens of millions of videos that include minors," said the YouTube spokesperson. "There's more to be done, and we continue to work to improve and catch abuse more quickly."