YouTube takes drastic steps after pedophile controversy results in advertisers leaving in droves

The online video platform YouTube is taking drastic steps after reports that pedophiles were using comments sections to target children caused advertisers to abandon the site in droves.

According to Ars Technica, some videos hosted on the website were discovered to contain highly questionable and predatory images of children that pedophiles were linking to each other.

The "wormhole into pedophilia ring" was described by YouTuber Matt Watson on his video channel.

"YouTube's recommended algorithm is facilitating pedophiles' ability to connect with each other, trade contact info, and link to actual CP [child pornography] in the comments," Watson claimed.

"I can consistently get access to it from vanilla, never-before-used YouTube accounts via innocuous videos in less than ten minutes, in sometimes less than five clicks," he explained.

Advertisers began to leave the popular video platform, leading YouTube to shut down comments on millions of accounts.

The company has also permanently banned comments from channels that were caught with a history of "predatory comments."

"Based on our review of historical comments, a small number of channels that we have identified as having a high level of risk for predatory comments will not be able to re-enable comments, even with moderation," the statement from the company read.

"The owners of these channels will be notified of these actions," it concluded.

YouTube has also been criticized by parents who have discovered videos meant to be viewed by children that had secret messages encouraging suicide.

Here's more about the YouTube pedophile controversy:

Pedophile Ring Abuses YouTubewww.youtube.com