In this day and age of short-form video content, YouTube’s recommendation algorithm has made it the go-to platform for entertainment, education, and everything in between. However, a recent report from the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a nonprofit watchdog group, suggests that the YouTube algorithm is now leading young boys interested in video games towards videos centred around school shootings and gun violence.
The incident came to light when researchers from the Tech Transparency Project created new YouTube accounts and pretended to be two 9-year-old boys and two 14-year-old boys. Once the accounts were live, they watched hours of video game content, including Roblox, Halo, and Grand Theft Auto, and recorded their recommendations over 30 days.
After analyzing the data, the researchers then discovered that the YouTube algorithm was promoting content related to gun violence and weapons to all gamer accounts. However, the volume of such content was significantly higher for users who clicked on the recommended videos. These videos included graphic demonstrations of the destructive power of guns, scenes depicting school shootings and other mass shooting events, and guides on how to convert a handgun into a fully automatic weapon. Furthermore, the platform even monetized some of these videos, thus violating its own policies.
“Children who aren’t old enough to buy a gun shouldn’t be able to turn to YouTube to learn how to build a firearm, modify it to make it deadlier, or commit atrocities,” said Justin Wagner, director of investigations at Everytown for Gun Safety.
YouTube’s response
In response to the report, a YouTube spokesperson emphasized the existence of the YouTube Kids app and stated, “We welcome research on our recommendations, and we’re exploring more ways to bring in academic researchers to study our systems. But in reviewing this report’s methodology, it’s difficult for us to draw strong conclusions. For example, the study doesn’t provide the context of how many overall videos were recommended to the test accounts, and also doesn’t give insight into how the test accounts were set up, including whether YouTube’s Supervised Experiences tools were applied.”
The post YouTube algorithm is exposing young gamers to gun violence appeared first on Android Headlines.

Source: ndroidheadlines.com