Business Insider: “President Donald Trump has made China a target of his campaign for reelection — but in an ironic twist, some of his campaign’s ad spending is funding Chinese state-run YouTube channels. At least 22 Trump campaign ads ran on YouTube channels linked to the Chinese government this month, according to a new report from Washington-based cybersecurity firm Omelas, first covered by Bloomberg.”
“The report also found 39 Trump campaign ads running alongside Russian-owned YouTube channels during the same time period. The findings aren’t particularly surprising, given that the Trump campaign is one of YouTube’s top ad buyers and Omelas conducted its study using an IP address in Missouri, a swing state. But they show how the chaotic online advertising ecosystem can make for odd bedfellows between advertisers and content creators. The Trump administration has previously cracked down on how China-owned media outlets can operate in the US. The administration labeled five Chinese outlets as ‘foreign missions’ in February, requiring them to register their properties and barring them from acquiring new ones without US permission.”