YouTube okayed ads with misinformation on India's election process: Report

The advertisements were however pulled down after they were approved from YouTube, but before they could be published, the report said

Video streaming giant YouTube allegedly approved almost 50 advertisements having misinformation about elections recently, according to a joint investigative report by digital rights group AccessNow and Global Witness.

But Youtube, while reacting to the report, said that none of the advertisements ever ran on its systems.

The advocacy groups claimed that a total of 48 misleading advertisements in English, Hindi, and Telugu containing content prohibited by YouTube’s advertising and elections misinformation policies, were allegedly approved by the streaming giant.

The advertisements were however pulled down after they were approved from YouTube, but before they could be published, the report confirmed.

“Heading into the crucial election year of 2024, tech platforms made tall promises about safeguarding electoral integrity, but the proof is in the pudding: YouTube greenlit all 48 ads violating its policies, submitted as part of our investigation,” said Namrata Maheshwari, Senior Policy Counsel, Access Now.

Reacting to the allegations, a Google spokesperson said, “Our policies explicitly prohibit ads making demonstrably false claims that could undermine participation or trust in an election, which we enforce in several Indian languages.”

“Our enforcement process has multiple layers to ensure ads comply with our policies, and just because an ad passes an initial technical check does not mean it won’t be blocked or removed by our enforcement systems if it violates our policies. But the advertiser here deleted the ads in question before any of our routine enforcement reviews could take place,” the spokesperson added.