YouTube apologizes to LGBTQ creators after anti-gay ads ran on their videos

Ashley Wong | USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO — YouTube took to Twitter to apologize for how its new ad-sharing policies unfairly penalized its LGBTQ creators and after its ad platform ran homophobic advertisements before some of the videos.

In a series of tweets posted Saturday, YouTube said that it had "let the LGBTQ community down" through "inappropriate ads" and their monetization policy.

"We’ve taken action on the ads that violate our policies, and we are tightening our enforcement," YouTube said in one of its tweets. "And when we hear concerns about how we’re implementing our monetization policy, we take them seriously and make improvements if needed."

LGBTQ YouTube creators have complained for months about their videos being slapped with age and content restrictions, being demonetized — meaning they lose revenue-earning ads — and in some cases, even being run alongside anti-LGTBQ ads. Creators such as Chase Ross, Tyler Oakley and Rowan Ellis have alleged that their videos are being demonetized or flagged as restricted content due to words like "transgender" appearing in the title.

And in early June, several YouTube creators tweeted screenshots of ads preceding their videos from organizations like AskDrBrown Ministries, which called homosexuality "a sin," and Alliance Defending Freedom, which is defending legal fights by business owners who refuse to serve gay couples on religious grounds.

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

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

YouTube has run into problems with demonetizing videos in the past. Over the last year, the company established new policies designed to weed out offensive content — and made it harder for smaller creators to make money off of ad-sharing revenue.

Ross, a transgender YouTube creator whose videos often openly discuss his gender transition, saw several of his videos lose ad revenue sharing in the past year after he added the word "trans" or "transgender" to the title. Although he appreciated YouTube's apology, he said that he still gets messages from his viewers about anti-LGBTQ ads showing up in videos and called the company's decision to apologize on the last day of June, which celebrates gay pride, "disrespectful."

"There are so many levels where YouTube is hurting its LGBTQ+ creators: demonetization, deeming us not ad friendly, age-restricting us, giving us strikes, and having anti-LGBTQ ads run on our channels," Ross said in an email to USA TODAY. "These issues have been going on for over a year and still, nothing has been done. I want to have faith in this platform that so many of us call home, but I need to see some real action."

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