Nebraska's Attorney General Concerned About Google's Practices

by Lauren Conley

Story Created: Jul 3, 2013 at 5:53 PM CDT

Story Updated: Jul 3, 2013 at 7:51 PM CDT

From music videos to tutorials on tying a tie--YouTube has it all.
But, attorneys general from across the country have a gripe with the website, and Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning even sent parent company Google a letter Tuesday.
Jon Bruning asked Google take more precautions to filter content on YouTube.
In a letter addressed to Google's senior vice president, Bruning and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt said they are, "deeply concerned to learn of Google's financial partnership with the posters of these videos."
But, the issue isn't just about the videos depicting illegal and dangerous content on the website.
Bruning said Google and the person who posts the information are making money from ads on the page.
"So, they're making money off of people's addictions and pain and suffering and we think that's troubling," Bruning said.
Examples include a video on the sale of unused credit cards that got more than 79,000 views and was online 6 months before it was taken down.
There's another video explaining how to fake a driver's license.
And the ad on the side of the screen for the video demonstrating how to make a fake passport is for an immigration lawyer.
Bruning argued the advertiser isn't choosing where to post the ad.
"The immigration attorney doesn't necessarily want to be next to that video," Bruning explained.
YouTube's 'User Guidelines' state explicit content like pornography is not allowed.
It also asks users not to post quote 'bad stuff' like drug abuse, underage drinking or bomb making.
But, Bruning wants them to take it a step further.
"All of this is on the web to some degree," Bruning said. "We just don't want Google to assist people when they're trying to find it."
In his letter to Google, Bruning requested information, including how many videos have been removed since 2011 for violating YouTube policies.
Bruning also wants to know how many received money from Google ads before they were removed.
News 5 contacted Google for a response on the issue, they had yet to respond by time of air.

Source: http://www.khastv.com/news/local/Nebraskas-Attorney-General-Concerned-Ao-214210391.html

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