{
  "id": 10078824,
  "title": "Now that they think about it, Meta and YouTube actually will take money to run Musk doc ads",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/now-that-they-think-about-it-meta-and-youtube-actually-will-take",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-26T20:34:18.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The A.V. Club",
    "slug": "the-a-v-club",
    "url": "https://www.avclub.com/meta-and-google-walk-back-decision-not-to-run-musk-doc-ads"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Meta and YouTube have decided to take paid ads for Alex Gibney's new documentary Musk, contradicting their earlier refusal to run them. The move came as a surprise, and it wasn't due to either company's initial stance against promoting the film, which is a critical look at Elon Musk's business practices and the harm he's caused. According to THR, both Google and Meta have agreed to accept studio Bleecker Street's money to promote the three-hour examination of Musk's claims of being a visionary entrepreneur, despite the potential backlash. YouTube initially said it had temporarily restricted the ads due to a system error, but it has since been cleared to run. Meta acknowledged the situation as an \"error\" and is restoring the ads. The decision to initially reject the ads was reportedly made after Bleecker Street appealed the decision and publicized the issue to media outlets like TechCrunch, a move that proved helpful in resolving the matter. As of now, the ads are set to start running on YouTube and Meta's platforms sometime on Saturday, much to the surprise of no one involved.",
  "summary": "Explaining that this was all just a big misunderstanding, YouTube and Meta have said they've fixed the \"errors\" blocking the ads.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}