Video Platform

YouTube

Recommendation-driven long-form video.

Video sharing platform owned by Alphabet (Google). The recommendation algorithm drives the majority of watch time and routes users between videos and channels.

Documented Cognitive Harm Footprint

53

Harm Footprint

Moderate

A 2023 audit using 100,000 sock-puppet accounts found that while the algorithm does not always increase ideological extremity, it produces a growing proportion of recommendations from "problematic" channels — Intellectual Dark Web, Alt-right, Conspiracy and QAnon — particularly for right-leaning users.

Harm Count
10 / 40
Severity
16 / 35
Reach
22 / 22
Mechanism
5 / 5

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Documented Harms (2)

Increased Exposure to Extremist Content

2023 general users

Algorithmic exposure to extremist channels grows over time within typical user sessions.

Source: 2023 algorithm audit using 100,000 sock-puppet accounts

Algorithmic Radicalisation

2023 right-leaning users particularly

Recommendation system produces a growing proportion of recommendations from problematic channels (IDW, Alt-right, Conspiracy, QAnon), particularly for right-leaning users.

Source: 2023 algorithm audit using 100,000 sock-puppet accounts