The YouTube Algorithm and the Alt-Right Filter Bubble

Abstract

AbstractThe YouTube algorithm is a combination of programmed directives from engineers along with learned behaviors that have evolved through the opaque process of machine learning which makes the algorithm’s directives and programming hard to understand. Independent tests to replicate the algorithm have shown that the algorithm has a strong bias towards right-leaning politics videos, including those racist views expressed by the alt-right community. While the algorithm seems to be pushing users towards the alt-right video content merely in an attempt to keep users in a cycle of video watching, the end result makes YouTube a powerful recruiting tool for Neo-Nazis and the alt-right. The filter bubble effect that this creates pushes users into a loop that reinforces radicalism instead of level-headed factual resources.