MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA —Google is refusing to explain why it removed more than 300 ads from the Trump campaign.
CBS' "60 Minutes" discovered the ads were pulled off of Google and YouTube while working on a story about hate speech.
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki told the tv news magazine that there were "ads of President Trump that were not approved to run on Google or YouTube, and that the ads are "available in our transparency report."
YouTube listed it had pulled the Trump campaign's ads in its transparency report, but gave no reason why.The discovery comes two weeks after Google announced a new effort to restrict political ad targeting.
This comes at a time when social media companies are experiencing pressure to censure misinformation across their platforms.
Two weeks ago, Actor Sacha Baron Cohen said Facebook would have let Adolf Hitler buy ads to support his effort to wipe out Europe's Jews.Cohen made the comment in a speech ripping the social media giant last week.
Cohen told an Anti-Defamation League audience that, "If Facebook were around in the 1930s, it would have allowed Hitler to post 30-second ads on his 'solution' to the 'Jewish problem.'"Cohen called on Facebook to fact-check political ads before running them and, when the ads are false, "give back the money and don't publish them."
Facebook is said to be considering changes to its political ad policy.The Wall Street Journal reports the social media giant is mulling a ban on political ads that target small audiences.
It's considering raising the minimum number of people targeted in political ads from 100 to the thousands.It's believed that misinformation spreads by targeting very narrow audiences.
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