The YouTube Rabbit Hole Is Nuanced – The New York Times
Posted By admin on April 23, 2022
Perhaps you have an image in your mind of people who get brainwashed by YouTube.
You might picture your cousin who loves to watch videos of cuddly animals. Then out of the blue, YouTubes algorithm plops a terrorist recruitment video at the top of the app and continues to suggest ever more extreme videos until hes persuaded to take up arms.
A new analysis adds nuance to our understanding of YouTubes role in spreading beliefs that are far outside the mainstream.
A group of academics found that YouTube rarely suggests videos that might feature conspiracy theories, extreme bigotry or quack science to people who have shown little interest in such material. And those people are unlikely to follow such computerized recommendations when they are offered. The kittens-to-terrorist pipeline is extremely uncommon.
That doesnt mean YouTube is not a force in radicalization. The paper also found that research volunteers who already held bigoted views or followed YouTube channels that frequently feature fringe beliefs were far more likely to seek out or be recommended more videos along the same lines.
The findings suggest that policymakers, internet executives and the public should focus less on the potential risk of an unwitting person being led into extremist ideology on YouTube, and more on the ways that YouTube may help validate and harden the views of people already inclined to such beliefs.
Weve understated the way that social media facilitates demand meeting supply of extreme viewpoints, said Brendan Nyhan, one of the papers co-authors and a Dartmouth College professor who studies misperceptions about politics and health care. Even a few people with extreme views can create grave harm in the world.
People watch more than one billion hours of YouTube videos daily. There are perennial concerns that the Google-owned site may amplify extremist voices, silence legitimate expression or both, similar to the worries that surround Facebook.
This is just one piece of research, and I mention below some limits of the analysis. But whats intriguing is that the research challenges the binary notion that either YouTubes algorithm risks turning any of us into monsters or that kooky things on the internet do little harm. Neither may be true.
(You can read the research paper here. A version of it was also published earlier by the Anti-Defamation League.)
Digging into the details, about 0.6 percent of research participants were responsible for about 80 percent of the total watch time for YouTube channels that were classified as extremist, such as that of the far-right figures David Duke and Mike Cernovich. (YouTube banned Dukes channel in 2020.)
Most of those people found the videos not by accident but by following web links, clicking on videos from YouTube channels that they subscribed to, or following YouTubes recommendations. About one in four videos that YouTube recommended to people watching an extreme YouTube channel were another video like it.
Only 108 times during the research about 0.02 percent of all video visits the researchers observed did someone watching a relatively conventional YouTube channel follow a computerized suggestion to an outside-the-mainstream channel when they were not already subscribed.
The analysis suggests that most of the audience for YouTube videos promoting fringe beliefs are people who want to watch them, and then YouTube feeds them more of the same. The researchers found that viewership was far more likely among the volunteers who displayed high levels of gender or racial resentment, as measured based on their responses to surveys.
Our results make clear that YouTube continues to provide a platform for alternative and extreme content to be distributed to vulnerable audiences, the researchers wrote.
Like all research, this analysis has caveats. The study was conducted in 2020, after YouTube made significant changes to curtail recommending videos that misinform people in a harmful way. That makes it difficult to know whether the patterns that researchers found in YouTube recommendations would have been different in prior years.
Independent experts also havent yet rigorously reviewed the data and analysis, and the research didnt examine in detail the relationship between watching YouTubers such as Laura Loomer and Candace Owens, some of whom the researchers named and described as having alternative channels, and viewership of extreme videos.
More studies are needed, but these findings suggest two things. First, YouTube may deserve credit for the changes it made to reduce the ways that the site pushed people to views outside the mainstream that they werent intentionally seeking out.
Second, there needs to be more conversation about how much further YouTube should go to reduce the exposure of potentially extreme or dangerous ideas to people who are inclined to believe them. Even a small minority of YouTubes audience that might regularly watch extreme videos is many millions of people.
Should YouTube make it more difficult, for example, for people to link to fringe videos something it has considered? Should the site make it harder for people who subscribe to extremist channels to automatically see those videos or be recommended similar ones? Or is the status quo fine?
This research reminds us to continually wrestle with the complicated ways that social media can both be a mirror of the nastiness in our world and reinforce it, and to resist easy explanations. There are none.
Tip of the Week
Brian X. Chen, the consumer tech columnist for The New York Times, is here to break down what you need to know about online tracking.
Last week, listeners to the KQED Forum radio program asked me questions about internet privacy. Our conversation illuminated just how concerned many people were about having their digital activity monitored and how confused they were about what they could do.
Heres a rundown that I hope will help On Tech readers.
There are two broad types of digital tracking. Third-party tracking is what we often find creepy. If you visit a shoe website and it logs what you looked at, you might then keep seeing ads for those shoes everywhere else online. Repeated across many websites and apps, marketers compile a record of your activity to target ads at you.
If youre concerned about this, you can try a web browser such as Firefox or Brave that automatically blocks this type of tracking. Google says that its Chrome web browser will do the same in 2023. Last year, Apple gave iPhone owners the option to say no to this type of online surveillance in apps, and Android phone owners will have a similar option at some point.
If you want to go the extra mile, you can download tracker blockers, like uBlock Origin or an app called 1Blocker.
The squeeze on third-party tracking has shifted the focus to first-party data collection, which is what a website or app is monitoring when you use its product.
If you search for directions to a Chinese restaurant in a mapping app, the app might assume that you like Chinese food and allow other Chinese restaurants to advertise to you. Many people consider this less creepy and potentially useful.
You dont have much choice if you want to avoid first-party tracking other than not using a website or app. You could also use the app or website without logging in to minimize the information that is collected, although that may limit what youre able to do there.
Barack Obama crusades against disinformation: The former president is starting to spread a message about the risks of online falsehoods. Hes wading into a fierce but inconclusive debate over how best to restore trust online, my colleagues Steven Lee Myers and Cecilia Kang reported.
Elon Musks funding is apparently secured: The chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX detailed the loans and other financing commitments for his roughly $46.5 billion offer to buy Twitter. Twitters board must decide whether to accept, and Musk has suggested that he wanted to instead let Twitter shareholders decide for themselves.
Three ways to cut your tech spending: Brian Chen has tips on how to identify which online subscriptions you might want to trim, save money on your cellphone bill and decide when you might (and might not) need a new phone.
Welcome to a penguin chicks first swim.
We want to hear from you. Tell us what you think of this newsletter and what else youd like us to explore. You can reach us at ontech@nytimes.com.
If you dont already get this newsletter in your inbox, please sign up here. You can also read past On Tech columns.
Read more:
The YouTube Rabbit Hole Is Nuanced - The New York Times
- ADL reports increase in hate and extremism in online games, gaming industry responds - FOX13 Memphis - January 12th, 2023
- Anti-Defamation League to Adidas: Sever ties with Ye's Yeezy - November 23rd, 2022
- Andrew Torba: Five Things to Know | ADL - November 23rd, 2022
- Kyrie Irving doesn't speak Tuesday amid social media post fallout - NBA.com - November 2nd, 2022
- ADL Audit Finds Antisemitic Incidents in United States Reached All-Time ... - October 25th, 2022
- Adidas facing pressure to cut ties with Ye over antisemitic comments - NPR - October 25th, 2022
- Stanford apologizes for admissions limits on Jewish students in the 1950s and pledges action on steps to enhance Jewish life on campus - Stanford... - October 12th, 2022
- Leadership Development: Overcoming the Myth of Separateness - Stanford Social Innovation Review - October 12th, 2022
- Coming up on Connections: Wednesday, October 12, 2022 - WXXI News - October 12th, 2022
- FROM THE ARCHIVE: Security has been on local Jews' minds for a long time J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - October 12th, 2022
- The Good Fight Forum on Confronting Antisemitism - jewishboston.com - October 10th, 2022
- Anti-Defamation League to Review Its K-12 Materials After Critical Race ... - October 4th, 2022
- The Oath Keepers' Capitol riot trial, explained - The San Diego Union-Tribune - October 4th, 2022
- Ahead Of Midterms, Feinstein, Murphy, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Keep Voters and Election Workers Safe from Guns at Polls - Senator Dianne... - October 4th, 2022
- My side of the story: Thankful we are better than this - Wyoming Tribune - October 4th, 2022
- The 'OK' Hand Gesture Is Now Listed As A Symbol Of Hate : NPR - NPR.org - September 27th, 2022
- Virtual reality is educating new generations about the Holocaust - Connecticut Public - September 27th, 2022
- ADL and National Urban League Launch Community Solidarity & Safety Coalition - National Urban League - September 19th, 2022
- New COVID-19 vaccine will help reduce infection from specific variants - 90.5 WESA - September 19th, 2022
- Remarks by President Biden at the United We Stand Summit - The White House - September 19th, 2022
- Anti-Defamation League promotes author who compared Israeli policy to Nazi actions during the Holocaust - Fox News - September 19th, 2022
- A journalist's prescient take on rise of antisemitism in U.S. J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - September 19th, 2022
- Women Business Collaborative Announces the Appointment of Robin Schwartz as Senior Director of Development - PR Newswire - September 4th, 2022
- ADL urges Newsom to sign hate bill opposed by tech companies J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - September 4th, 2022
- Investigation underway after reports of antisemitic banners hung on bike overpass at UC Davis - KCRA Sacramento - August 30th, 2022
- Extremist hate group continues to deliver anti-Semitic flyers to American Jews - The New York State Senate - August 22nd, 2022
- What CNNs Dana Bash learned reporting on the rise in antisemitism - Forward - August 22nd, 2022
- OK symbol: "OK" hand gesture added to Anti-Defamation League's list of ... - August 16th, 2022
- Antisemitic Boston Mapping Project now hosted on ... - masslive - August 16th, 2022
- ADL event on CA hate bill affirms Hindu-Jewish solidarity on swastikas J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - August 16th, 2022
- Leaked audio sheds light on "election integrity" events tied to Trump, RNC - NPR - August 6th, 2022
- ADL: Twitter removes only 5% of reported antisemitic posts J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - August 6th, 2022
- Sherman & Owens Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Honoring Victims of the Munich Massacre - Congressman Brad Sherman - August 4th, 2022
- How Hitler's Favorite Passion Play Lost Its Anti-Semitism - The Atlantic - August 4th, 2022
- Anti-Defamation League Proposes 'Minecraft' Should Examine Viability Of Player Verification And Global Blocklists To Counter "Hate And... - August 4th, 2022
- Misogyny is fueling the countrys gun violence epidemic, experts say - Wisconsin Examiner - August 1st, 2022
- Dismantle the ADL: The Anti-Defamation League's record of racist counterinsurgency and espionage - Mondoweiss - August 1st, 2022
- ADL condemns NY Jewish progressive group as 'out of touch' - thejewishchronicle.net - August 1st, 2022
- ADL's Robert Trestan Reflects on Time in New England - jewishboston.com - August 1st, 2022
- Minecraft needs to invest in more hate moderation, ADL study finds - Input - August 1st, 2022
- There is a lot of antisemitic hate speech on social media and algorithms are partly to blame - The Conversation - July 27th, 2022
- Testing the Waters: The Cultural Politics of Normalization and the Impact of the Abraham Accords in the Gulf - Wilson Center - July 27th, 2022
- Parents on Edge Over Solana Beach Plan to Vet Donated Books with 'Debatable Topics' - Voice of San Diego - July 27th, 2022
- ADL Asks Iceland to Act on Pro-Palestine Mapping Website - NBC10 Boston - July 16th, 2022
- GOP candidate for Pa. governor Mastriano paid $5000 to the website used by the Tree of Life shooter - 90.5 WESA - July 16th, 2022
- INSTITUTE INDEX: How U.S. taxpayers subsidize the Oath Keepers - Facing South - July 16th, 2022
- Civil Rights and Youth Organizations Send Letters to Texas School Districts Urging Them to Ensure Dress Codes Are Not Discriminatory - NAACP Legal... - July 14th, 2022
- 'Credible threat' focused on Jewish community in San Antonio is lifted, suspect in custody - Texas Public Radio - July 10th, 2022
- Racist flyers in Connecticut are part of a rise in incidents of hate across New England - Connecticut Public - July 10th, 2022
- Okay Hand Gesture | ADL - Anti-Defamation League - June 26th, 2022
- Berkshire District Attorney's Office Honors This Year's Youth Advisory Board Members - Mass.gov - June 8th, 2022
- Racist and violent ideas jump from webs fringes to mainstream sites - Moneycontrol - June 2nd, 2022
- We must fight white supremacy with solidarity: Jews respond to the ADL's harmful campaign - Mondoweiss - June 2nd, 2022
- Modest Warming in U.S. Views on Israel and Palestinians - Pew Research Center - May 27th, 2022
- Anti-hate group speaks out against antisemitic incident in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills - Los Angeles Times - May 25th, 2022
- Hate crimes are on the rise. Here's what you can do to help prevent them - Colorado Public Radio - May 25th, 2022
- Vaccine scientist Hotez to give virtual talk sponsored by UB - UB Now: News and views for UB faculty and staff - University at Buffalo - May 25th, 2022
- SDCC cancels investiture of chancellor due to uproar over Alice Walker speech - The San Diego Union-Tribune - May 25th, 2022
- Weinberg Foundation to give $250K in grants to help Buffalo community after shooting - Maryland Daily Record - May 25th, 2022
- What is the 'great replacement theory' linked to the Buffalo shooter? - Austin American-Statesman - May 22nd, 2022
- Most Extremist Violence in the U.S. Comes From the Political Right - The New York Times - May 22nd, 2022
- Great Replacement Theory: What it means, where it came from - USA TODAY - May 22nd, 2022
- ADL addresses alleged anti-semitism during lacrosse game - News 5 Cleveland WEWS - May 22nd, 2022
- Increase in antisemitism from far right and radical left 'despicable': CEO of the Anti-Defamation League - Fox News - May 22nd, 2022
- Nicholas J. Fuentes: Five Things to Know | Anti-Defamation League - May 16th, 2022
- Is Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism? - The New Yorker - May 16th, 2022
- The Buffalo supermarket massacre is the latest mass shooting authorities say was motivated by hate - WMTW Portland - May 16th, 2022
- Beverly Hills residents wake up to antisemitic fliers again. Police are investigating - Los Angeles Times - April 23rd, 2022
- Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District: A guide to the 2022 primary and candidates - 90.5 WESA - April 23rd, 2022
- ADL task force calls on administration to keep IRGC on foreign terror list - Cleveland Jewish News - April 23rd, 2022
- Tune in Sunday to 'The ADL on the Front Lines' discussion - scarsdalenews.com - March 14th, 2022
- Poway Unified principal, vice principal and technology director are Administrators of the Year - The San Diego Union-Tribune - March 8th, 2022
- White supremacist propaganda is increasingly coordinated, the ADL says - NPR - March 5th, 2022
- Opinion: Distorting and omitting facts in the Israel-Palestine conflict benefits no one - The San Diego Union-Tribune - March 5th, 2022
- I'd never worn the Star of David. That changed in 2022 - WBUR - March 5th, 2022
- This Coloradan was a propagandist for the Oath Keepers. Now hes speaking out against the extremist militia tied to Jan. 6. - The Denver Post - March 5th, 2022
- Baker's move to sever Russian ties- POLITICO - POLITICO - March 5th, 2022
- The Happy Merchant | Anti-Defamation League - February 11th, 2022
- Whoopi Goldberg and the Anti-Defamation League both embrace critical race theory - Towanda Daily Review - February 11th, 2022
- I joined the ADL to fight racism. It's actually doing the opposite - +972 Magazine - February 11th, 2022
Comments