Youtube channels are using AI to steal words and photographs from paywalled news content and reproduce articles wholesale without the consent of publishers.

The practice has been highlighted by freelance journalist Rob McGibbon after a first-person account of his estrangement from his late father written for the Daily Mail was lifted wholesale and reproduced by the Youtube Channel: “The World News.” Youtube is part of Google, which made at least £20bn in UK advertising revenue last year.

He said: “Google are handling stolen goods in plain sight and governments must find the way to hold them responsible. In the real world selling on stolen stuff is as serious as the criminal who stole it in the first place. Why should it be different in the virtual world?”