YouTube Appears to Be Making Money Off of Sanctioned Iranians’ Accounts
Key takeaways
- The channels have been monetized, meaning that YouTube runs ads on their videos that generate revenue.
- “That means YouTube placed an ad paid for with US tax dollars on a channel for an Iranian government ministry,” the researchers wrote.
- “Google is committed to compliance with applicable sanctions and trade compliance laws,” says Google spokesperson Nate Funkhouser. “If we find that an account violates our policies, we take appropriate action.”
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Photograph: EKIN KIZILKAYA/Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story As the US war with Iran continues to roil the Middle East, new research shared exclusively with WIRED shows that You Tube is hosting and possibly profiting from dozens of channels linked to US-sanctioned groups linked to the Iranian government, including many with direct ties to the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The research, from the nonprofit Tech Transparency Project, identified more than 75 channels that appear to be run by entities that have been officially sanctioned by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which has been enforcing sanctions against Iran for decades.
The channels have been monetized, meaning that YouTube runs ads on their videos that generate revenue. The researchers documented ads for companies ranging from Subaru to Verizon, TurboTax, the weight-loss drug Ozempic, and fast-food outlet KFC. In one case, the researchers observed an ad for the US Customs and Border Protection running on a video produced by Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts.