A podcast presented by Zack Polanski has received thousands of pounds in advertising revenue from YouTube, despite the Green Party leader backing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which targets the platform’s owner, Google, for its business interests in Israel.
As reported by The Times, Bold Politics, fronted by Polanski and launched shortly after he became Green Party leader last year, has attracted more than five million views since its launch, and received £3,769.69 in YouTube advertising revenue this year.
YouTube is owned by Google, which is listed by the BDS movement as a “pressure target” because of its $1.2 billion Project Nimbus cloud computing contract with the Israeli government.
BDS has urged supporters to “de-Google” by moving away from the company’s products and services where possible.
Polanski is contracted as a presenter by Bold Politics and receives a share of any profits after the podcast’s costs. The programme told The Times, however, that its production costs substantially exceed its YouTube advertising income.
Defending the decision to use YouTube, a spokesperson for the podcast said progressive channels had to operate within existing social-media platforms in order to reach audiences.
“Many social media platforms are complicit in the genocide of Palestinians,” the spokesperson said.
“We work within the social media system as it is to use those existing platforms to draw attention to injustice and inequality and reach people across the planet.”
The podcast said it had blocked 46 categories of advertising, including gambling and private healthcare, and applied further restrictions when listeners reported adverts that did not fit its “shared values”.
Bold Politics also said it did not pay for advertising on YouTube, instead relying on the platform’s organic reach.
Bold Politics’s website describes it as a programme in which Polanski speaks to “thinkers, activists and people whose voices deserve to be heard”, and it has featured guests including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The Green Party has been contacted for comment.
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