The Firefox browser extension will allow users to record video data through the site.
Last modified On Friday, September 18, 2020 09. 15 BST
YouTube audiences are invited to “guardian dogs” and record their use of the site to help detect tactics in which their set of advice rules can lead to online radicalization.
Mozilla, the non-profit organization of the Firefox Internet browser, has produced a new browser extension, called RegretsReporter, that will allow YouTube users to record and download data on destructive videos advised through the site, as well as the address they took to get there. .
“For years, other people have sounded the alarm on YouTube by recommending conspiracy theories, incorrect information, and other destructive content,” said Ashley Boyd, Mozilla’s director of participation and promotion. “One of the most consistent answers from YouTube is to say that they are making progress in this domain and have reduced destructive recommendations by 70%. But there’s no way to determine those claims or perceive where YouTube still has paintings to make.
“That’s why we’re recruiting YouTube users for YouTube Watchdogs. Users can donate their own knowledge of tips to help us perceive what YouTube recommends and to help us better perceive how to make tip engines in general more reliable. “
More than two years ago, The Guardian revealed how YouTube’s advice algorithm, which is not fully understood outside the company’s doors, offered “dangerously skewed” video suggestions.
In the years that followed, users continually expressed amazement and dismay at the destructive content they are encouraged to see. After watching a YouTube video about the Vikings, a user stated that it had been white supremacist content; some other film about the taste of You’ve Been Framed has resulted in macabre excerpts of real-life fatal accidents.
“More than 70% of all videos viewed on YouTube are advised through the site’s advice engine,” Mozilla said. “But even the basics of its operation are mistailed. The organization says it needs to look for answers to questions such as the type of videos that lead to racist, violent, or conspiratorial content, and whether there are express Patterns of YouTube usage that lead to the recommendation of destructive content. The company says percentage of the effects of studies in an open source way.
In a statement, a YouTube spokesperson said: “While we welcome more studies on this front, we have not noticed the videos, screenshots or knowledge in the consultation and kindly review Mozilla’s claims. In general, we have designed our systems to ensure that the most reliable resource content is highlighted in the recommendations. We have also made more than 30 adjustments to recommendations since the beginning of the year, resulting in a 50% minimization in the viewing time of limited content and erroneous recommendations data in the United States. States. “
The crusade is a very vital gesture for Mozilla. The organization makes the most of its earnings from a deal with Google whereby Google seek is explained as the default search engine in the Firefox browser, and has attempted to diversify its earnings streams, a gain Compression in January this year has resulted in the dismissal of 70 staff members.