Big Advertiser Withdraws After Their Ad Appears Among Child Sex Abuse Material On Twitter

JAKARTA - Several major advertisers including Dyson, Mazda and chemical company Ecolab have suspended their marketing campaigns or removed their ads on Twitter because their promotions appeared alongside tweets asking for child pornography. This is what a source at Dyson told Reuters.

Well-known brands ranging from Walt Disney Co, NBCUniversal and Coca-Cola Co to children's hospitals are among about 30 advertisers who appear on Twitter account profile pages peddling links to exploitative material. This was echoed in a Reuters review of accounts identified in new research on online child sex abuse from cybersecurity group Ghost Data.

According to a Reuters review, some of the tweets included keywords related to "rape" and "teenagers," and appeared alongside promoted tweets from corporate advertisers. In one example, a tweet promoted for shoe and accessory brand Cole Haan appeared next to a tweet in which a user said they were "trading teen/child content".

"We were horrified," David Maddocks, brand president at Cole Haan, told Reuters after being told that the company's ads appeared alongside such tweets. "Twitter will fix this, or we will fix it in any way we can, including not buying Twitter ads."

In another example, a user tweeted searching for the content "Yung girls ONLY, NO Boys," which was quickly followed by a tweet promoted for Texas-based Scottish Rite Children's Hospital. Scottish Rite did not comment on the report.

In a statement, Twitter spokeswoman Celeste Carswell said the company had "no tolerance for child sexual exploitation" and was investing more resources dedicated to child safety, including hiring new positions to write policies and implement solutions.

He added that Twitter is working with its clients and advertising partners to investigate and take steps to prevent the situation from happening again.

Twitter's challenge in identifying child abuse content was first reported in an investigation by tech news site The Verge in late August. The growing disapproval of advertisers critical to Twitter's revenue stream has been reported by Reuters for the first time.

Like all social media platforms, Twitter prohibits depictions of child sexual exploitation, which is illegal in most countries. But they do allow adult content in general and are home to the thriving porn image exchange that is today. In fact, according to internal company documents seen by Reuters, content today makes up about 13% of all content on Twitter.

Twitter itself refuses to comment on the sheer volume of adult content on their platform.

Ghost Data identified more than 500 accounts that publicly shared or solicited child sexual abuse material over a 20-day period this month. Twitter failed to delete more than 70% of accounts during the study period, according to the group, which shared its findings exclusively with Reuters.

Reuters could not independently confirm the full accuracy of Ghost Data's findings, but was able to review the dozens of accounts that remain online and request material for "13+" and "young-looking nudes."

After Reuters shared a sample of 20 accounts with Twitter last Thursday, the company removed about 300 additional accounts from the network, but more than 100 others remained on the site the following day.

Reuters later on Monday, September 26, shared a full list of more than 500 accounts after being supplemented by Ghost Data, which was reviewed and permanently suspended by Twitter for violating its rules, Twitter's Carswell said on Tuesday.

In an email to advertisers on Wednesday morning, prior to the publication of this story, Twitter said it "found that an ad appeared within a Profile engaged in a public sale or solicitation of child sexual abuse material."

Andrea Stroppa, founder of Ghost Data, said the study was an attempt to assess Twitter's ability to remove the material. He said he personally funded the research after receiving a tip on the topic.

According to the company's transparency report, Twitter suspended more than 1 million accounts last year about child exploitation material.

"There is no place for this type of online content," a spokesman for automaker Mazda USA said in a statement to Reuters. He added that in response, the company is now banning its ads from appearing on Twitter profile pages.

A Disney spokesperson called the content "despicable" and said they were "redoubling our efforts to ensure that the digital platforms on which we advertise, and the media buyers we use, strengthen their efforts to prevent such mistakes from being repeated."

A spokeswoman for Coca-Cola, which has promoted tweets appearing on accounts tracked by researchers, said it does not condone material attributed to its brand and said "any violation of these standards is unacceptable and is taken very seriously."

NBCUniversal said it had asked Twitter to remove ads related to inappropriate material such as child abuse.

These demands made Twitter even more cornered, as a social media that is not wise in handling child abuse material and providing impeccable service to its advertisers.