YouTube has apologized to the LGBT community for allowing anti-LGBT ads to run on videos with LGBT content and for monetization policies that prevented LGBT content creators from having ads at all on their videos.
LGBT content creators have complained that their videos have become age or content restricted, weren’t showing up in search results or were becoming demonetized because of their content, among other issues.
Hey @TeamYouTube do you mind explaining why I’m receiving LITERAL ANTI-LGBT organization advertisements now? (Yep, with a donation link)
I thought the whole point was to keep the site “non-political” & the videos “advertised friendly”.
What even is this garbage? pic.twitter.com/uJLoOjaxrw
— Shannon Taylor (@HeyThereImShan) May 29, 2018
YouTuber Chase Ross uploaded a video discussing his transition from female to male. After uploading the video numerous times without issue, Ross uploaded the video using the word “transgender.” Ross showed that the video became demonetized.
DO NOT LET YOUTUBE GET AWAY WITH THIS.
I uploaded my video TWICE to see if the word “transgender” would trigger the algorithm… and every step of the way was fine UNTIL I added the word Transgender. RIGHT away, the video was demonetized.
Literally. RIGHT. AWAY. pic.twitter.com/mvCucFPyZP
— Chase Ross 🐝 (@ChaseRoss) May 30, 2018
YouTube issued an apology for the issues in a lengthy statement on Twitter.
“It’s the last day of Pride Month and we wanted to reach out to the LGBTQ community. We’re proud of the incredible LGBTQ voices on our platform and the important role you play in the lives of young people.,” the statement reads. “But we’ve also had issues where we let the LGBTQ community down–inappropriate ads and concerns about how we’re enforcing our monetization policy. We’re sorry and we want to do better.”
The statement continues, “We’ve taken action on the ads that violate our policies, and we are tightening our enforcement. And when we hear concerns about how we’re implementing our monetization policy, we take them seriously and make improvements if needed. It’s critical to us that the LGBTQ community feels safe, welcome, equal, and supported on YouTube. Your work is incredibly powerful and we are committed to working with you to get this right.”
It’s the last day of Pride Month and we wanted to reach out to the LGBTQ community. We’re proud of the incredible LGBTQ voices on our platform and the important role you play in the lives of young people. 1/4
— YouTube (@YouTube) June 30, 2018
But we’ve also had issues where we let the LGBTQ community down–inappropriate ads and concerns about how we’re enforcing our monetization policy. We’re sorry and we want to do better. 2/4
— YouTube (@YouTube) June 30, 2018
We’ve taken action on the ads that violate our policies, and we are tightening our enforcement. And when we hear concerns about how we’re implementing our monetization policy, we take them seriously and make improvements if needed. 3/4
— YouTube (@YouTube) June 30, 2018
It’s critical to us that the LGBTQ community feels safe, welcome, equal, and supported on YouTube. Your work is incredibly powerful and we are committed to working with you to get this right.4/4
— YouTube (@YouTube) June 30, 2018
While the video platform did apologize, no specific plans of action were addressed.
