How YouTube Can Fix Its Big White Nationalism and Anti-Semitism Problem

This has not been a good month for YouTube. In recent weeks, the Google-owned video giant has been hit with a string of bad press, as prominent brands like AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, J.P. Morgan, and Lyft have pulled the plug on their advertising with the service. The reason? The site’s automated system for ad placement has repeatedly and embarrassingly resulted in products being showcased alongside videos promoting racism, terrorism, and hate speech. The result? Google’s shares have fallen significantly due to an advertiser exodus which has also included Toyota, Heinz, Volkswagen, and Verizon.

It did not have to be this way, but YouTube has long allowed this problem to fester. On March 2, I warned about the fundamental flaws in YouTube’s content moderation system. As currently constituted, the service does not police videos itself, but instead relies on users to flag offensive content. This system is entirely inadequate to its task. Bigotry typically targets minorities, who are by definition fewer in number. As such, there are simply fewer users around to flag offensive content directed at minorities, yet that is precisely what YouTube requires for it to take action.

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