Google Ads reprimands publications for racist content in wake of Floyd protests

On June 16, 2020, the far-right news blog ZeroHedge was barred from generating revenue through Google Ads after the site was found to be in violation of Google’s policies on race-related content by pushing unsubstantiated claims involving the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, NBC reports. The same day, The Federalist, a conservative publication, received a warning from Google and responded to demands to remove racist comments on articles related to protests against police brutality in the wake of Floyd’s death. 

Key Players

Much of ZeroHedge’s content is published under the alias Tyler Durden, a nod to the anarchist character of the same name in the 1999 film “Fight Club.” A 2016 Bloomberg article revealed that Durden is the alias used by three individuals who run the site. Today, ZeroHedge is known largely for trafficking conspiracy theories and pro-Donald Trump content. Business Insider reported in February 2020 that as of Jan. 31, ZeroHedge was banned from Twitter after publishing an article identifying a Chinese scientist it claimed created the coronavirus; the ZeroHedge account was reinstated in June 2020, according to The Verge, a technology news site.  

The Federalist is an online conservative news site that publishes content related to politics, policy, religion, and culture. The Federalist maintains a “tally of those fired from lack of allegiance to the new woke overlords,” in reference to unrest following movements against racial injustice sparked by the death of George Floyd, according to TechCrunch, another news site focused on the technology industry.

A Google spokesperson told NBC News that the company maintains “strict publisher policies that govern the content ads can run on and explicitly prohibit derogatory content that promotes hatred, intolerance, violence or discrimination based on race from monetizing. When a page or site violates our policies, we take action.” 

Further Details

Google’s ban came in response to a report provided to the company by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a U.K. nonprofit focused on combating cyberviolence and online hate speech. The CCDH found that 10 U.S.-based websites had published racist articles about the protests, and that sites could make millions on these articles from Google Ads revenue. Imran Ahmed, the nonprofit’s CEO, said the CCDH found advertisements for many companies that had previously made public statements supporting Black Lives Matter and the recent protests running on the websites in question.

In a June 16 tweet thread, the CCDH called out several companies for hosting ads on sites promoting unsubstantiated claims regarding the Black Lives Matter movement. Articles cited included a ZeroHedge piece calling Black Lives Matter “practically a revolutionary operative of the CIA via [George] Soros,” as well as a Federalist article blaming violence and looting on “left-wing anarchists and antifa groups.” The Federalist has previously been criticized for encouraging “coronavirus parties,” according to The Verge.

While ZeroHedge published stories claiming the protests to be fake, The Federalist pushed the narrative that the media was actively lying about protest events, TechCrunch reported. Neither publication responded to requests for comment from NBC. 

Outcome

ZeroHedge reinstated to Google Ads platform; The Federalist gets off with a warning

While ZeroHedge was initially banned outright, Google reinstated the news blog to its ad platform on July 14 after removing “derogatory” comments, according to CNBC. The Federalist was issued a warning from Google, allowing it a grace period of three days to remove the content in question. Though the initial report from NBC on June 15, 2020, claimed that both sites had been banned, Google backtracked the following day after confirming that The Federalist had removed the comments.