[P2P-F] Fwd: YouTube And Its Radicalizing Algorithm

Fri Mar 16 07:17:38 CET 2018

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From: piqd - your piqs of the day <dailydigest at piqd.com>
Date: Fri, Mar 16, 2018 at 2:00 AM
Subject: YouTube And Its Radicalizing Algorithm
To: Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>

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Magda Skrzypek <https://www.piqd.com/users/magda.skrzypek> | Technology and
society <https://www.piqd.com/technology-politics>
YouTube And Its Radicalizing Algorithm
<https://www.piqd.com/tracking/technology-politics/youtube-and-its-radicalizing-algorithm?cid=627eed218b467b80645dd5ce5b66b877&ref=dailydigest&source=DailyDigestEmail&utm_campaign=viewpiq&utm_content=2018-03-16&utm_medium=email&utm_source=dailydigest_contenttable>
Nechama Brodie <https://www.piqd.com/users/nechama.brodie> | Technology and
society <https://www.piqd.com/technology-politics>
'F*#% News' Not Just A Western Problem
<https://www.piqd.com/tracking/technology-politics/f-news-not-just-a-western-problem?cid=627eed218b467b80645dd5ce5b66b877&ref=dailydigest&source=DailyDigestEmail&utm_campaign=viewpiq&utm_content=2018-03-16&utm_medium=email&utm_source=dailydigest_contenttable>

Technology and society <https://www.piqd.com/technology-politics>

<https://www.piqd.com/users/magda.skrzypek> piqer:
Magda Skrzypek 5
<https://www.piqd.com/tracking/technology-politics/youtube-and-its-radicalizing-algorithm?cid=627eed218b467b80645dd5ce5b66b877&ref=dailydigest&source=DailyDigestEmail&utm_campaign=viewpiq&utm_content=2018-03-16&utm_medium=email&utm_source=dailydigest>
YouTube And Its Radicalizing Algorithm
<https://www.piqd.com/tracking/technology-politics/youtube-and-its-radicalizing-algorithm?cid=627eed218b467b80645dd5ce5b66b877&ref=dailydigest&source=DailyDigestEmail&utm_campaign=viewpiq&utm_content=2018-03-16&utm_medium=email&utm_source=dailydigest>

In an effort to tackle the spread of disinformation on the platform, two
days ago, YouTube's CEO Susan Wojcicki announced
<https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/13/17117344/youtube-information-cues-conspiracy-theories-susan-wojcicki-sxsw>
that the company would start adding Wikipedia information to videos about
known conspiracy theories. The move comes after YouTube faced heavy
criticism for promoting conspiracy videos and hateful content – just last
month, the platform was forced to remove
<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/23/technology/trolls-step-ahead-facebook-youtube-florida-shooting.html>one
of its top trending videos alleging that David Hogg, a survivor of the
Parkland school shooting, was a paid crisis actor.

Critics
<https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/14/17119932/wikipedia-conspiracy-theories-youtube-alex-jones>
doubt that providing alternative viewpoints alongside controversial videos
will solve the problem. Especially, if YouTube itself encourages
consumption of extremist content through its algorithmic recommendations,
as techno-sociologist Zeynep Tufekci suggest. In a sharp op-ed for The New
York Times, she delineates YouTube’s monetization process, in which the
company feeds its viewers with increasingly radical content, as this tends
to lead to consumption of more videos. In other words, “*YouTube leads
viewers down a rabbit hole of extremism, while Google racks up the ad sales*
.”

Although YouTube has faced intense scrutiny
<https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/18/more-must-be-done-about-extremist-content-online-says-google>
over the way terrorist groups have used the site for recruitment and
propaganda, it’s only recently that the platform cracked down
<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/technology/youtube-right-wing-channels.html>
on videos posted by the far-right. But YouTube’s ability to radicalize goes
beyond any specific topic or area, Tufekci’s insightful article points out.

“Videos about vegetarianism led to videos about veganism. Videos about
jogging led to videos about running ultramarathons. It seems as if you are
never ‘hard core’ enough for YouTube’s recommendation algorithm. It
promotes, recommends and disseminates videos in a manner that appears to
constantly up the stakes. Given its billion or so users, YouTube may be one
of the most powerful radicalizing instruments of the 21st century,” writes
Tufekci.

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<https://www.piqd.com/tracking/technology-politics/youtube-and-its-radicalizing-algorithm/original?cid=627eed218b467b80645dd5ce5b66b877&source=DailyDigestEmail>
Source: Zeynep Tufekci | nytimes.com on 03/11/2018 | Image: Jennifer Heuer
| Language: EN

Opinion | YouTube, the Great Radicalizer

Read article
<https://www.piqd.com/tracking/technology-politics/youtube-and-its-radicalizing-algorithm/original?cid=627eed218b467b80645dd5ce5b66b877&source=DailyDigestEmail>

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<https://www.piqd.com/users/nechama.brodie> piqer:
Nechama Brodie 5
<https://www.piqd.com/tracking/technology-politics/f-news-not-just-a-western-problem?cid=627eed218b467b80645dd5ce5b66b877&ref=dailydigest&source=DailyDigestEmail&utm_campaign=viewpiq&utm_content=2018-03-16&utm_medium=email&utm_source=dailydigest>
'F*#% News' Not Just A Western Problem
<https://www.piqd.com/tracking/technology-politics/f-news-not-just-a-western-problem?cid=627eed218b467b80645dd5ce5b66b877&ref=dailydigest&source=DailyDigestEmail&utm_campaign=viewpiq&utm_content=2018-03-16&utm_medium=email&utm_source=dailydigest>

Although the US, Britain and the EU still tend to dominate news headlines,
it's not just Donald Trump and half of Europe that's battling against the
rapid spread of false information online. In countries like Singapore,
Malaysia, Indonesia, and South Korea, disinformation and misinformation
campaigns are equally prominent, and possibly even more problematic –
exploiting often volatile political party fault lines. Campaigns of false
information also tend to have more diverse or different iterations than we
see in 'the West', which exposes one of the primary mechanisms of the
spread false information: how it exploits social behaviours in order to
propagate.

This short article
<https://www.poynter.org/news/east-and-southeast-asia-misinformation-visible-and-growing-concern>
published on the Poynter network gives a timely and interesting overview of
events and issues surrounding false information in South and Southeast
Asia, and highlights why it's becoming a growing concern.

I'm going to add that I dislike the term 'f*#% news'. It's been militarised
by politicians and governments, and been used so randomly, for so many
types of information, that it has become almost simultaneously meaningless.
This very weaponised-amorphousness is problematic in itself, where states
are banning or disrupting what they term 'f*#% news', but without any clear
or universally accepted definition of what that means. Although this
article points out that several regimes in Asia are already doing this
(arresting people for publishing misinformation), it doesn't overtly say if
or why this is problematic. The appropriation of 'f*#% news' as a means of
diluting media freedom is potentially a much larger global problem than the
'f*#% news' itself.

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<https://www.piqd.com/tracking/technology-politics/f-news-not-just-a-western-problem?cid=627eed218b467b80645dd5ce5b66b877&ref=dailydigest&source=DailyDigestEmail&utm_campaign=viewpiq&utm_content=2018-03-16&utm_medium=email&utm_source=dailydigest>
<https://www.piqd.com/tracking/technology-politics/f-news-not-just-a-western-problem/original?cid=627eed218b467b80645dd5ce5b66b877&source=DailyDigestEmail>
Source: Masato Kajimoto | poynter.org on 03/14/2018 | Language: EN

In East and Southeast Asia, misinformation is a visible and growing concern

Read article
<https://www.piqd.com/tracking/technology-politics/f-news-not-just-a-western-problem/original?cid=627eed218b467b80645dd5ce5b66b877&source=DailyDigestEmail>

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