Brands ranging from Walt Disney, NBCUniversal and Coca-Cola to a children's hospital were among more than 30 advertisers that appeared on the profile pages of Twitter accounts peddling links to the exploitative material.
"We're horrified," David Maddocks, brand president at Cole Haan, told Reuters after being notified that the company's ads appeared alongside such tweets. Twitter's challenges in identifying child abuse content were first reported in an investigation by tech news site The Verge in late August. The emerging pushback from advertisers that are critical to Twitter's revenue stream is reported here by Reuters for the first time.
Reuters could not independently confirm the accuracy of Ghost Data's finding in full, but reviewed dozens of accounts that remained online and were soliciting materials for"13+" and"young looking nudes." Andrea Stroppa, the 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 about the topic.
"There is no place for this type of content online," a spokesperson for carmaker Mazda USA said in a statement to Reuters, adding that in response, the company is now prohibiting its ads from appearing on Twitter profile pages. The reaction from advertisers poses a risk to Twitter's business, which earns more than 90% of its revenue by selling digital advertising placements to brands seeking to market products to the service's 237 million daily active users.
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