Twitter failed to remove more than 70 percent of the accounts during the study period, according to the group, which shared the findings exclusively with Reuters. Ghost Data identified the more than 500 accounts that openly shared or requested child sexual abuse material over a 20-day period this month. Twitter declined to comment on the volume of adult content on the platform.

But it permits adult content generally and is home to a thriving exchange of pornographic imagery, which comprises about 13 percent of all content on Twitter, according to an internal company document seen by Reuters. Like all social media platforms, Twitter bans depictions of child sexual exploitation, which are illegal in most countries. The emerging pushback from advertisers critical to Twitter's revenue stream was now exposed by Reuters. Twitter's challenges in identifying child abuse content were first reported in an investigation by tech news site The Verge in late August. She added that Twitter was working closely with its advertising clients and partners to investigate and take steps to prevent the situation from happening again. In a statement, Twitter spokesperson Celeste Carswell said the company 'has zero tolerance for child sexual exploitation' and is investing more resources dedicated to child safety, including hiring for new positions to write policy and implement solutions. Scottish Rite did not return multiple requests for comment.

In another example, a user tweeted searching for content of 'Yung girls ONLY, NO Boys,' which was immediately followed by a promoted tweet for Texas-based Scottish Rite Children's Hospital.

'Either Twitter is going to fix this, or we'll fix it by any means we can, which includes not buying Twitter ads.' 'We're horrified,' said Cole Haan brand president David Maddocks, after being notified that the company's ads appeared alongside such tweets.

In one example, a promoted tweet for shoe and accessories brand Cole Haan appeared next to a tweet in which a user said they were 'trading teen/child' content. Some of the tweets included key words related to 'rape' and 'teens,' and appeared alongside promoted tweets from corporate advertisers, the Reuters review found. Some major advertisers have pulled their ads from parts of Twitter because their promotions appeared alongside tweets soliciting child sex-abuse material.ĭyson, Mazda, Forbes and PBS Kids were among the companies that suspended their marketing campaigns or removed their ads from the social media website because of the problem, the companies told Reuters.ĭIRECTV and Thoughtworks also told Reuters they had paused their advertising on Twitter.īrands ranging from Walt Disney Co, 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, according to a Reuters review of accounts identified in new research about child sex abuse online from cybersecurity group Ghost Data.

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