YouTube has been at the heart of a number of polarizing discussions recently, and it doesn't look like that's going to change as the video-sharing platform has caused widespread discussion amongst users as to whether their recent change in algorithm is a good thing or not. Specifically, YouTube has stated in a recent blog post that they are going to start removing conspiracy theories and misinformation from its recommended video list.
Although this seems like a good thing, many changes YouTube has made in the past has always ended up questionably doing more harm than good to the community. However, YouTube are promising that only harmful channels will be targeted using a mixture of machine learning and real interactions.
YouTube themselves had this to say: “We’ll begin reducing recommendations of borderline content and content that could misinform users in harmful ways—such as videos promoting a phony miracle cure for a serious illness, claiming the earth is flat or making blatantly false claims about historic events like 9/11.”
I guess we will have to wait and see if it works as intended.
