YouTube Flops In Moves Meant To Thwart Hate Speech

April 9, 2021 Social Media, Technology

The Verge reports:

Google says it has blocked several terms associated with hate speech from being used as ad keywords on YouTube videos.

The move follows a report by The Markup, which found that advertisers could search for terms like “white lives matter” and “white power” when deciding where to place ads on YouTube.

Google says it does not publicly disclose how it develops its enforcement tools, so that so-called bad actors can’t circumvent its rules.

Read the full article. As you can see below, the “fix” has created problems of its own.

The Markup’s reports this week from @LeonYin and @ASankin have been killer and watching Google absolutely shit itself across two stories is something to behold.

Part 1: https://t.co/jyWADEAPqV

Part 2: https://t.co/tiSPeRk4zs

— Ryan Mac? (@RMac18) April 9, 2021

Part 2 of @LeonYin and @ASankin‘s investigation into YouTube’s block list for ad keywords is out today.

In response to exposing YouTube’s band-aid approach to limit hate speech, Google actually made the problem worse, banning “LGBTQ” and “Civil rights”https://t.co/l2ZnWfVCzS pic.twitter.com/Xn6wfwyvMk

— Jon Keegan (@jonkeegan) April 9, 2021