Google cracks down on The Federalist & ZeroHedge for violating race-related content policies, may permanently suspend access to Google Ads revenue

UPDATE: Google is now saying NBC News got it wrong, here's Google's update below. Business Insider has a new story covering the update here.

The Federalist was never demonetized.

— Google Communications (@Google_Comms) June 16, 2020

We worked with them to address issues on their site related to the comments section.

— Google Communications (@Google_Comms) June 16, 2020

Our policies do not allow ads to run against dangerous or derogatory content, which includes comments on sites, and we offer guidance and best practices to publishers on how to comply. https://t.co/zPO669Yd0p

— Google Communications (@Google_Comms) June 16, 2020

NBC News reports that Google has threatened to ban two extreme-right websites from the Google advertising platform because they publish race-related disinformation. The two sites, ZeroHedge and The Federalist, would no longer be able to generate revenue from any ads served by Google Ads if their accounts end up being suspended by Google.

From NBC News:

A Google spokesperson said in an email that it took action after determining the websites violated its policies on content related to race.

We have strict publisher policies that govern the content ads can run on and explicitly prohibit derogatory content that promotes hatred, intolerance, violence or discrimination based on race from monetizing," the spokesperson wrote. "When a page or site violates our policies, we take action. In this case, weve removed both sites ability to monetize with Google.

Google's ban of the websites comes after the company was notified of research conducted by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a British nonprofit that combats online hate and misinformation.