YouTube and the 'Big Lie': Research Shows Cause for Concern

[Nevilledog]

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Justin Hendrix
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YouTube and the ‘Big Lie’: Research Shows Cause for Concern

This week, YouTube announced its plans to mitigate false claims related to the upcoming U.S. midterm elections. New research from @CSMaP_NYU on the 2020 cycle suggests cause for concern:

techpolicy.press
YouTube and the 'Big Lie': Research Shows Cause for Concern
When it comes to social media and its impact on democracy, each election cycle is a live experiment.
8:57 AM · Sep 2, 2022

https://techpolicy.press/youtube-and-the-big-lie-research-shows-cause-for-concern/

The “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was ‘stolen’ from former President Donald Trump is a persistent alternate reality for a sizable number of U.S. voters. As a result, violent threats against election workers are a substantial problem, according to a recent U.S. House Oversight Committee report. False claims about the 2020 election have been used to justify state laws that seek to limit voter participation, while the election of just one of a sizable number of election-denying candidates for key positions overseeing the vote in battlegrounds such as Arizona, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin could help throw the next election cycle into chaos.

Mis- and disinformation on social media are not the primary cause of belief in the Big Lie, but given the scale of social networks, any marginal effect that contributes to the propagation of false election claims could have substantial impact.

It is in this context that, in a blog post this week, YouTube announced its plans to “limit the spread of harmful misinformation” in the 2022 U.S. midterm elections. The company says it intends to recommend “authoritative national and local news sources like PBS NewsHour, The Wall Street Journal, Univision and local ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates,” and to add “a variety of information panels in English and Spanish from authoritative sources underneath videos and in search results about the midterms.” And, YouTube promises to take action on election denial, including videos that claim “widespread fraud, errors, or glitches occurred in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, or alleging the election was stolen or rigged.”

But given the prevalence of such false claims, how might YouTube’s algorithms– designed to recommend content that users want– contribute to their propagation, particularly to users already inclined to accept them?

A snapshot of data from the 2020 election suggests cause for concern. On the same day that YouTube released its plans for the midterms, the Journal of Online Trust and Safety published the results of a study by researchers at NYU’s Center for Social Media and Politics (CSMaP) that found “a systematic association between skepticism about the legitimacy of the election and exposure to election fraud-related content on YouTube.”

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[SWBTATTReg]

1. Cause for concern? I don't think so, I'm on YouTube and have yet to visit anything like this, not

that I would, but surely would have seen something like this on YouTube (legitimacy of the election, other garbage), perhaps there are things out on YouTube but I haven't seen, nor would I click on such bait.

I think perhaps it's overdone now, this ranting and raving about the so-called election fraud of 2020 yada yada yada, that it is turning off voters (which I'm inclined to believe, being that I have heard that tRUMP attendees at his events are leaving early, not listening to the endless same ol' garbage day in, day out).

[Nevilledog]

2. Trump....TODAY

[SWBTATTReg]

3. So, I don't ever never look at his crap. Why should I?

[Nevilledog]

5. Was just responding to you saying the big lie stuff was going away

[Kaleva]

4. One has to search for such videos in order to watch them

I watch YouTube most every evening before going to bed and have done so for years. Not once has such videos appeared on my suggested watching list.

What I do see are videos covering topics like below:

Sitcoms
Raising chickens
Military equipment
History
Canning
Fermenting
Gardening
Pickling
War in Ukraine
China
Dehydrating garden produce
Fishing for sucker fish
Gaming
Lawn care
Home defense
Proper care and handling of guns

[Nevilledog]

6. You are definitely more mentally healthy than trumpers

It's the algorithm.... Start watching crap, it recommends more crap.

[Kaleva]

9. Yes

[Hermit-The-Prog]

7. That just means you're not the target. 1 person does not a study make.

[Kaleva]

8. It's well known that YouTube uses an algorithm based on your searches

[hunter]

10. Yeah, I get mostly technical stuff plus...

...dam removals, trains, tools, roads, history.

In my opinion television news and opinion is worthless. I guess I feel that way about YouTube too. Their algorithms don't bother me with it.

If I watched a lot of stupid Trump stuff I'm sure their algorithms would throw more stupid Trump stuff at me.

[Kaleva]

11. Even my ads on Facebook are based on what I search for

I doubt many others here see ads on Facebook for chickens at Tractor Supply or for freezer driers which is what I saw this morning.

[Solomon]

12. Authoritative and national news sources like...the Wall Street Journal!?

Shit.