YouTube ‘funding’ paedophilia and extremist channels by running ads for hundreds of firms including Amazon and Facebook alongside vile videos
An ad for a Disney movie appeared on a video featuring former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke
YOUTUBE has been accused of showing ads from multi-national companies on channels promoting extremism, Nazis and even paedophilia.
The likes of Adidas, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix and Under Armour are among the 300 firms who unwittingly helped these channels, .
Other channels found to be running high-quality commercials from as many as 300 firms spewed North Korean propaganda and white nationalists.
CNN claims to have found ads for Jewish groups, including the Jerusalem's Friends of Zion Museum, running on a video about KKK grand wizard David Duke.
A Nissan ad reportedly featured on Brian Ruhe's "Nazi" channel which has has since been deleted for violating community guidelines on hate speech.
The video, "David Duke on Harvey Weinstein exposing Jewish domination", allegedly featured a joint ad promoting the Nissan Leaf and Disney film, A Wrinkle In Time.
The Toy Association pulled its ads from YouTube after it found one of its campaigns was being run on a channel promoting paedophilia.
Its commercials promoting playing in early child development were apparently run on Amos Yee's channel which has a playlist called "paedophilia is life".
Yee told CNN that YouTube pulled ads from "most" of his videos and banned him from monetising content.
Worryingly, ads paid for by the US taxpayer may also have funded North Korean propaganda against their nation.
How do YouTubers make money?
Although anyone can upload content, YouTube chooses which videos to display ads on.
And anyone who has more than 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 "watch hours" per month can make money.
All they have to do is click a button saying "monetise my video".
They will earn around £6 for every 1,000 views, the Times reported recently.
YouTube will give the channels a portion of its ad revenue for running them on their videos, according to CNN.
And advertisers will pay if someone actually clicks on the ad or watches for more than 30 seconds.
But advertisers won't necessarily know where their ads are being shown.
They trust YouTube to decide which content is unsuitable and / or insensitive for their ads.
Features from organisations including the Centre for Disease Control appeared on Red Star TV, which is lined to Kim Jong-un's regime.
This is not the first time YouTube has come under fire for its ad placement: Last year, it emerged other top brands may have been unknowingly advertising on jihadi videos.
One ad by car firm Mercedes was on a pro-ISIS video on YouTube that was viewed 115,000 times, reported.
The commercial appeared on a pro-ISIS video that features a song about jihad and shows the black ISIS flag and anti-aircraft guns.
Argos ads were spotted on sexually explicit videos and a Marie Curie advert was seen on a video about pro-Nazi group Combat 18.
YouTube is believed to have a billion users who watch a billion hours of video every single day.
In a statement to CNN, YouTube said: "We have partnered with our advertisers to make significant changes to how we approach monetisation on YouTube with stricter policies, better controls and greater transparency."
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"When we find that ads mistakenly ran against content that doesn't comply with our policies, we immediately remove those ads.
"We know that even when videos meet our advertiser friendly guidelines, not all videos will be appropriate for all brands.
"But we are committed to working with our advertisers and getting this right."