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It’s not just a mudslide. No matter how much I block alt-right YouTube channels, google continuously either ignores those blocks, or forces more and more in to

by wredue 3y ago

It’s not just a mudslide. No matter how much I block alt-right YouTube channels, google continuously either ignores those blocks, or forces more and more in to my recommended. It’s crazy to see “right wing content is being censored” claims while google is very very clearly pushing right wing content above everything else. I don’t use Facebook, but my wife does and Facebook is exactly the same. It is very obviously pushing right wing content up. When you can open up a video and within 30 seconds, they’re calling for the eradication of the Jews, with hundreds of thousands of views, it really begs the question of what the hell these people are saying that it’s actually being removed. Cause straight up calling for genocide is not just allowed to thrive on Facebook and google, it is actively pushed on to recommended no matter how much you try to block it. I watch PBS space time, various software engineering talks, and chess. That’s it. Why is YouTube recommending conspiracy theorist alt-right shit?

salad-tycoon 3y ago
You might consider me alt right, I sure wouldn’t but regardless, this has absolutely not been my experience. I’ve heard many of the alt podcasts and YouTube and movies, heck I’ve even gone on infowars... I definitely have never had anything even remotely close to your examples. Very bold claims but also very incorrect.
- plagiarist 3y ago
  The Infowars guy is spreading propaganda that Democrats are killing children and drinking blood. That is a very thin veneer over actual Nazi propaganda. I don't know if I have ever heard of a video with many views openly calling for genocide, but one can certainly spot those calls in the comments of those sources. That shit is coming from somewhere not far removed.
  - wredue 3y ago
    You’ll miss it if you blink, or aren’t up to date with the dog whistles. If you see a right wing video and it says “we gotta get rid of these Hollywood elites”, they’re actually calling for the eradication of the Jews. The right wing spends half of their time online creating and sharing “plausibly deniability” phrases. Here’s a common dog whistle right here in this very thread: “You’ll get banned for wrong think”. — just a dog whistle for “I want to drop hate speech and n-bombs with no consequence” Or “Different political opinions”. — a dog whistle for the exact same as above.
    - plagiarist 3y ago
      In this thread there is something unusual to see in the wild: a dog whistler immediately talking about "hereditary intelligence" and IQ tests after a single question on what precisely "wrong think" is.
- FrustratedMonky 3y ago
  Not Bold at all. I just watch Science and Programming on YouTube, and it will start suggesting alt-right, red-pill, religious content, pretty radical religious content. From my perspective, the internet leans right. This isn't some isolated experience.
  - wredue 3y ago
    Even HN as of late is being inundated with alt-right hot takes anti-science, anti-intellectualism. The reason they don’t “see it” is because they’re participating in spreading the hate.
zo1 3y ago
I don't know what to tell you. I watch "right wing content" exclusively and not even I got "exterminate the jews" level content. Though I see plenty of commentary about day to day beliefs by academia that calls for my race to be wiped out and discriminated against. I'd say the media is playing both sides except you all can't deny that there is systemic discrimination against white people in multiple countries' law books right now, in 2023.
- plagiarist 3y ago
  "I haven't seen any Antisemitism at all but white people are indeed being genocided," is a pretty hot take.
  - zo1 3y ago
    I thought the other one was even more odd: "Oh Youtube keeps promoting right-wing, eradicate the Jews content". But, to be fair, I didn't say I don't see antisemitic content. That for sure pops up once in a while in very "muted" language. I've also seen a rising trend for the traditional values of Jewish people to be admired on the right/conservative side, so there is that.
- wredue 3y ago
  Academics are not calling for genocide dude. If you can point to even one non right wing academic figure that calls for the genocide of any race of people, I’ll donate $100 to Doctors Without Borders that moment.
  - zo1 3y ago
    There are two I had on my mind that I had come across recently: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10145969/Public-furious-Rutgers-professor-Brittney-Coopers-history-anti-white-comments.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10145969/Public-fur... No mention of this "controversy" on her Wikipedi page, either. https://www.foxnews.com/us/professor-under-fire-for-white-genocide-tweet-blames-violent-racists-for-uproar https://www.foxnews.com/us/professor-under-fire-for-white-ge... But with a bit more googling, I found some additional ones. https://www.thecollegefix.com/video-uc-berkeley-professor-under-fire-for-abolish-white-people-comments/ https://www.thecollegefix.com/video-uc-berkeley-professor-un... https://www.snopes.com/news/2017/06/02/texas-professor-white-people/ https://www.snopes.com/news/2017/06/02/texas-professor-white... https://www.thecollegefix.com/stanford-student-senator-says-white-people-need-to-be-eradicated/ https://www.thecollegefix.com/stanford-student-senator-says-... https://jonathanturley.org/2021/04/28/barnard-professor-triggers-free-speech-controversy-after-writing-about-detonating-and-gassing-white-people/ https://jonathanturley.org/2021/04/28/barnard-professor-trig... Look, I agree these things aren't straight out "hey lets go out and gas white people" (Well one of them is). But the pattern is disturbing, and the media coverage is even more disturbing because they're (I would argue) hiding the level of this stuff, thus preventing us from having the conversation. Why do conservatives feel threatened, this is just Affirmative Action and Inclusion (such orwellian terms that hide their discrimination), so why do you feel that way unless you're secretly racist? Well, it's because there is a sustained, and secretly promoted hatred of white people and it needs to be brought to light. As an example, the Wikipedia page on Brittney Coopers at Rutgers University. No mention of this pretty-notable controversy about her racist comments. Probably edited for months after the story broke until people lost interest dealing with the Wikipedia rules.
brightlancer 3y ago
> When you can open up a video and within 30 seconds, they’re calling for the eradication of the Jews, with hundreds of thousands of views, it really begs the question of what the hell these people are saying that it’s actually being removed. Cause straight up calling for genocide is not just allowed to thrive on Facebook and google, it is actively pushed on to recommended no matter how much you try to block it. > I watch PBS space time, various software engineering talks, and chess. That’s it. Why is YouTube recommending conspiracy theorist alt-right shit? I call bullshit. There's plenty of racist crap on the internet, but "within 30 seconds, they’re calling for the eradication of the Jews, with hundreds of thousands of views" is just not believable, unless you're _deliberately_ going into some very dark corners. Facebook isn't suggesting this to the broad audience because it would get immediately flagged -- in some countries, such a video is illegal. YouTube's algorithms can get twisted up and make recommendations based upon associations we don't see, but "I watch PBS space time, various software engineering talks, and chess. That’s it. Why is YouTube recommending conspiracy theorist alt-right shit?" is just not believable, unless someone in your house is deliberately searching for it, or you think anything non-Marxist is alt-right.
- how_gauche 3y ago
  I have an extremely similar profile (chess, PBS space time!) and I get non stop Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate in my recommendations. YouTube Shorts are the worst for this, I can't scroll through ten videos without seeing this guy, no matter how many times I click "do not want!"
- wredue 3y ago
  Dude. I’ve selected “don’t recommend this channel”, reported and blocked “the critical drinker”, who’s videos can be summed up as “women and black people are bad”, no less than 8 times and YouTube is STILL recommending this fucker as of 7 minutes ago.
throwawaymobule 3y ago
Is there anyone out there collating data on YouTube suggestions in a widespread way? Like a browser extension that tracks when and what videos appear vs which ones are watched. I assume doing this would be a privacy nightmare, and not capture most data 'the algorithm' runs off of. I've heard of specific studies where fresh accounts are tested and the time until certain 'radical' content starts showing up, but nothing on existing accounts in use by people. I don't have a great handle on this, since I limit the amount I use YouTube's suggestions.

by wredue 3y ago

salad-tycoon 3y ago

You might consider me alt right, I sure wouldn’t but regardless, this has absolutely not been my experience. I’ve heard many of the alt podcasts and YouTube and movies, heck I’ve even gone on infowars... I definitely have never had anything even remotely close to your examples. Very bold claims but also very incorrect.

plagiarist 3y ago
The Infowars guy is spreading propaganda that Democrats are killing children and drinking blood. That is a very thin veneer over actual Nazi propaganda. I don't know if I have ever heard of a video with many views openly calling for genocide, but one can certainly spot those calls in the comments of those sources. That shit is coming from somewhere not far removed.
- wredue 3y ago
  You’ll miss it if you blink, or aren’t up to date with the dog whistles. If you see a right wing video and it says “we gotta get rid of these Hollywood elites”, they’re actually calling for the eradication of the Jews. The right wing spends half of their time online creating and sharing “plausibly deniability” phrases. Here’s a common dog whistle right here in this very thread: “You’ll get banned for wrong think”. — just a dog whistle for “I want to drop hate speech and n-bombs with no consequence” Or “Different political opinions”. — a dog whistle for the exact same as above.
  - plagiarist 3y ago
    In this thread there is something unusual to see in the wild: a dog whistler immediately talking about "hereditary intelligence" and IQ tests after a single question on what precisely "wrong think" is.
FrustratedMonky 3y ago
Not Bold at all. I just watch Science and Programming on YouTube, and it will start suggesting alt-right, red-pill, religious content, pretty radical religious content. From my perspective, the internet leans right. This isn't some isolated experience.
- wredue 3y ago
  Even HN as of late is being inundated with alt-right hot takes anti-science, anti-intellectualism. The reason they don’t “see it” is because they’re participating in spreading the hate.

zo1 3y ago

I don't know what to tell you. I watch "right wing content" exclusively and not even I got "exterminate the jews" level content. Though I see plenty of commentary about day to day beliefs by academia that calls for my race to be wiped out and discriminated against. I'd say the media is playing both sides except you all can't deny that there is systemic discrimination against white people in multiple countries' law books right now, in 2023.

plagiarist 3y ago
"I haven't seen any Antisemitism at all but white people are indeed being genocided," is a pretty hot take.
- zo1 3y ago
  I thought the other one was even more odd: "Oh Youtube keeps promoting right-wing, eradicate the Jews content". But, to be fair, I didn't say I don't see antisemitic content. That for sure pops up once in a while in very "muted" language. I've also seen a rising trend for the traditional values of Jewish people to be admired on the right/conservative side, so there is that.
wredue 3y ago
Academics are not calling for genocide dude. If you can point to even one non right wing academic figure that calls for the genocide of any race of people, I’ll donate $100 to Doctors Without Borders that moment.
- zo1 3y ago
  There are two I had on my mind that I had come across recently: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10145969/Public-furious-Rutgers-professor-Brittney-Coopers-history-anti-white-comments.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10145969/Public-fur... No mention of this "controversy" on her Wikipedi page, either. https://www.foxnews.com/us/professor-under-fire-for-white-genocide-tweet-blames-violent-racists-for-uproar https://www.foxnews.com/us/professor-under-fire-for-white-ge... But with a bit more googling, I found some additional ones. https://www.thecollegefix.com/video-uc-berkeley-professor-under-fire-for-abolish-white-people-comments/ https://www.thecollegefix.com/video-uc-berkeley-professor-un... https://www.snopes.com/news/2017/06/02/texas-professor-white-people/ https://www.snopes.com/news/2017/06/02/texas-professor-white... https://www.thecollegefix.com/stanford-student-senator-says-white-people-need-to-be-eradicated/ https://www.thecollegefix.com/stanford-student-senator-says-... https://jonathanturley.org/2021/04/28/barnard-professor-triggers-free-speech-controversy-after-writing-about-detonating-and-gassing-white-people/ https://jonathanturley.org/2021/04/28/barnard-professor-trig... Look, I agree these things aren't straight out "hey lets go out and gas white people" (Well one of them is). But the pattern is disturbing, and the media coverage is even more disturbing because they're (I would argue) hiding the level of this stuff, thus preventing us from having the conversation. Why do conservatives feel threatened, this is just Affirmative Action and Inclusion (such orwellian terms that hide their discrimination), so why do you feel that way unless you're secretly racist? Well, it's because there is a sustained, and secretly promoted hatred of white people and it needs to be brought to light. As an example, the Wikipedia page on Brittney Coopers at Rutgers University. No mention of this pretty-notable controversy about her racist comments. Probably edited for months after the story broke until people lost interest dealing with the Wikipedia rules.

brightlancer 3y ago

> When you can open up a video and within 30 seconds, they’re calling for the eradication of the Jews, with hundreds of thousands of views, it really begs the question of what the hell these people are saying that it’s actually being removed. Cause straight up calling for genocide is not just allowed to thrive on Facebook and google, it is actively pushed on to recommended no matter how much you try to block it. > I watch PBS space time, various software engineering talks, and chess. That’s it. Why is YouTube recommending conspiracy theorist alt-right shit? I call bullshit. There's plenty of racist crap on the internet, but "within 30 seconds, they’re calling for the eradication of the Jews, with hundreds of thousands of views" is just not believable, unless you're _deliberately_ going into some very dark corners. Facebook isn't suggesting this to the broad audience because it would get immediately flagged -- in some countries, such a video is illegal. YouTube's algorithms can get twisted up and make recommendations based upon associations we don't see, but "I watch PBS space time, various software engineering talks, and chess. That’s it. Why is YouTube recommending conspiracy theorist alt-right shit?" is just not believable, unless someone in your house is deliberately searching for it, or you think anything non-Marxist is alt-right.

how_gauche 3y ago
I have an extremely similar profile (chess, PBS space time!) and I get non stop Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate in my recommendations. YouTube Shorts are the worst for this, I can't scroll through ten videos without seeing this guy, no matter how many times I click "do not want!"
wredue 3y ago
Dude. I’ve selected “don’t recommend this channel”, reported and blocked “the critical drinker”, who’s videos can be summed up as “women and black people are bad”, no less than 8 times and YouTube is STILL recommending this fucker as of 7 minutes ago.

throwawaymobule 3y ago

Is there anyone out there collating data on YouTube suggestions in a widespread way? Like a browser extension that tracks when and what videos appear vs which ones are watched. I assume doing this would be a privacy nightmare, and not capture most data 'the algorithm' runs off of. I've heard of specific studies where fresh accounts are tested and the time until certain 'radical' content starts showing up, but nothing on existing accounts in use by people. I don't have a great handle on this, since I limit the amount I use YouTube's suggestions.