Can YouTube Quiet Its Conspiracy Theorists?

The New York Times ^ | 02 March 2020` | Jack Nicas Produced by Rumsey Taylor, Alana Celii and Dave Horn

[Theoria]

A new study examines YouTube’s efforts to limit the spread of conspiracy theories on its site, from videos claiming the end times are near to those questioning climate change.

Climate change is a hoax, the Bible predicted President Trump’s election and Elon Musk is a devil worshiper trying to take over the world.

All of these fictions have found life on YouTube, the world’s largest video site, in part because YouTube’s own recommendations steered people their way.

For years it has been a highly effective megaphone for conspiracy theorists, and YouTube, owned and run by Google, has admitted as much. In January 2019, YouTube said it would limit the spread of videos “that could misinform users in harmful ways.”

One year later, YouTube recommends conspiracy theories far less than before. But its progress has been uneven and it continues to advance certain types of fabrications, according to a new study from researchers at University of California, Berkeley.

YouTube’s efforts to curb conspiracy theories pose a major test of Silicon Valley’s ability to combat misinformation, particularly ahead of this year’s elections. The study, which examined eight million recommendations over 15 months, provides one of the clearest pictures yet of that fight, and the mixed findings show how challenging the issue remains for tech companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter.

The researchers found that YouTube has nearly eradicated some conspiracy theories from its recommendations, including claims that the earth is flat and that the U.S. government carried out the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, two falsehoods the company identified as targets last year.

[mmichaels1970]

Climate change is a hoax

That's what they're REALLY after. They weren't even subtle about it as they listed it first right at the top of their article.

[cranked]

Agreed. Furthermore, did the NYT have any problems when they allow “opinion” writers to make outlandish claims portrayed as facts which could easily fall into the category of ‘conspiracy theory’. Little wonder Trump is suing, despite whether his suite gets thrown out or not.....

The libtard progressive NYT’s can go phuk itself.

[MAGAthon]

the entire article is really about stopping the truth getting out about gloBULL warming.

it’s in the sub-heading, the opening line, and it closes the article as well.

all the rest is fluff.