Elon Musk disses YouTube for 'Nonstop Scam Ads'

Elon Musk slammed YouTube on Tuesday, accusing it of "constant scam ads." Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted a series of tweets about the company, including a meme mocking YouTube and claiming that it censors things like swearing but ignores scam ads.

Despite Musk's jab at YouTube's policy on swearing on its site, the company does not prohibit it. YouTube's guidelines, on the other hand, encourage creators to avoid language deemed inappropriate for advertising purposes. The site says it limits creators' ability to monetize videos that contain "frequent use of strong profanity or vulgarity," but the policy does not apply to music videos.

YouTube has been hit with a slew of cryptocurrency scams in recent years. YouTube faced at least 18 lawsuits involving cryptocurrency scams in 2020. In 2020, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak sued YouTube for allegedly failing to stop scam ads featuring his likeness. Wozniak's lawsuit was dismissed a year later after a judge ruled that YouTube and its parent company, Google, were not liable for user posts.

Some YouTube scams have specifically targeted Musk fans. A series of ads promoting a fake SpaceX digital coin that was falsely claimed to be created by Musk appeared on YouTube last year, ahead of the billionaire's appearance on "Saturday Night Live." According to Tenable, a risk management company, a study found that scam accounts on YouTube were able to steal about $9 million using ads for the fake SpaceX coin.