YouTube ads should be monitored like traditional media, say Lib Dems
Culture spokesman Max Wilkinson MP told the BBC the social media platform was operating under a 'lighter touch' advertising regime.
'Regulations need to catch up with the reality of how people are watching content and unscrupulous advertisers must not be allowed to use loopholes to exploit people,' he said.
Young adults are driving the YouTube trend, research shows (Ofcom/PA)
'We cannot allow a two-tier system where traditional broadcasters face robust scrutiny, while a digital giant like YouTube is allowed to mark its own homework.'
Industry bodies Radio Central and Clearcast currently pre-approve most ads before they go to air. YouTube advertising is not subject to the same type of pre-clearance checks.
YouTube is now the second most-watched media service in the UK, behind the BBC and ahead of ITV, according to an annual Ofcom report.
Overall, people spent an average of four hours and 30 minutes a day watching TV and video content at home in 2024, with broadcast TV still making up 56% of in-home viewing, the regulator said.
'It's time for the regulator to treat YouTube adverts much more like TV and radio adverts, to protect UK consumers from misleading or harmful content. The government needs to act now,' Mr Wilkinson said.
A spokesman for the Advertising Standards Authority, which monitors adverts on TV, radio and online, todl the BBC the cases highlighted by the Lib Dems came under Ofcom's reach under the Online Safety Act, but it would support their work and 'continue to play a disruptor role by reporting them and working with platforms to have them removed'.
According to Ofcom, people spent 39 minutes a day on YouTube in 2024, with 16 minutes of this on the household's TV set.
Younger adults aged 16 to 34 are driving the trend, watching 18 minutes of YouTube a day on TV, while one in five children aged four to 15 (20%) head straight to the app as soon as they turn the set on.
Even those aged over 55 have almost doubled the time they spend watching YouTube on their TVs compared with the previous year – up from six minutes a day in January 2023 to 11 minutes in December.
YouTube's soaring popularity comes as the platform's content has evolved, with half of its top-trending videos now more closely resembling traditional TV, including long-form interviews and game shows, Ofcom said.
Ofcom has been approached for comment.
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