YouTube is like the wild west – why won't Google pay to clean it up?

The tech giant has apologised for ads appearing next to extremist videos - but it needs to take action, not just rely on users

The first rule of making an apology is simple: be clear about what you are apologising for. Matt Brittin, head of Google's operations in Europe, failed the test. Was Google taking responsibility for allowing the company's YouTube site to be polluted with extremist videos produced by terror preachers and racists? Or was he merely apologising to advertisers for the fact that some of their messages appeared alongside such offensive material?

Brittin blurred the lines during his remarks on Monday but one suspects the advertisers were uppermost in his mind for three reasons. First, a boycott has been growing by the day and Google will be desperate to avoid more corporate defections. Second, most of his points were about tightening the definition of sites deemed suitable for adverts. Third, Brittin refused several times to say whether Google would take the initiative and try to root out altogether offensive content on YouTube.