Why is this important?
YouTube is a major vector for disinformation and hate speech. It’s time Congress holds YouTube and YouTube’s CEO, Susan Wojcicki, accountable by opening up an investigation into the platform.
YouTube is a mess.
As the world’s biggest video platform, YouTube has become a playground for disinformation and hate.
A perfect example is Steven Crowder, a conservative commentator who recently posted a video containing both a racist tirade and COVID-19 misinformation. In the video, Crowder and his team mock Black farmers in a clearly anti-Black segment. YouTube acknowledged the offensiveness and took down the video—not due to the racism but because Crowder violated YouTube’s COVID-19 misinformation policy.1
This illustrates just how far hate speech can go on YouTube without consequences. And it makes us wonder: what will it take for YouTube to stop hate speech on its platform?
When it comes to mis- and disinformation, YouTube has become a library of lies that reaches far beyond the platform. Following the 2020 election, YouTube refused to take down a video that clearly violated YouTube’s existing rules by falsely claiming Trump won and asking viewers to take action against Democrats.2 And a report by Election Integrity Partnership showed that in tweets containing misinformation, YouTube was linked to in the tweeted content more than any other platform.3 To make all of this worse, YouTube and content creators can profit from the disinformation and hate on the platform: creators can become YouTube Partners, a program that allows video makers to receive money from advertisements that are served on their content.
It’s time to pay real attention to YouTube. For far too long YouTube has been able to hide behind its parent company, Google, and Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, whose congressional testimony has left us with more questions than answers. Congress needs to investigate YouTube and its CEO, Susan Wojcicki, about its disinformation and hate speech problem now.
Sources:
1. “Inexplicably, YouTube says extremely racist Steven Crowder video isn’t hate speech,” The Verge, March 18, 2021.
2. “YouTube refuses to remove video that appears to violate its policies,” CNBC, Nov. 5, 2020.
3. “The Long Fuse: Misinformation and the 2020 Election,” Election Integrity Partnership, March 3, 2021.
