Forwarded from BlackBox (Security) Archiv
Congratulations, YouTube... Now Show Your Work
Earlier this week, #YouTube finally acknowledged their #recommendation #engine suggests harmful content. It’s a small step in the right direction, but YouTube still has a long history of dismissing independent #researchers. We created a #timeline to prove it.
Over the past year and some, it’s been like clockwork.
First: a news story emerges about YouTube’s recommendation engine harming users. Take your pick: The #algorithm has radicalized young adults in the U.S., sowed division in #Brazil, spread state-sponsored #propaganda in #HongKong, and more.
Then: YouTube responds. But not by admitting fault or detailing a solution. Instead, the company issues a statement diffusing blame, criticising the research methodologies used to investigate their recommendations, and vaguely promising that they’re working on it.
In a blog post earlier this week, YouTube acknowledged that their recommendation engine has been suggesting borderline content to users and posted a timeline showing that they’ve dedicated significant resources towards fixing this problem for several years. What they fail to acknowledge is how they have been evading and dismissing journalists and academics who have been highlighting this problem for years. Further, there is still a glaring absence of publicly verifiable data that supports YouTube’s claims that they are fixing the problem.
That’s why today, #Mozilla is publishing an #inventory of YouTube’s responses to external #research into their recommendation engine. Our timeline chronicles 14 responses — all evasive or dismissive — issued over the span of 22 months. You can find them below, in reverse chronological order.
💡 We noticed a few trends across these statements:
‼️ YouTube often claims it’s addressing the issue by tweaking its algorithm, but provides almost no detail into what, exactly, those tweaks are
‼️ YouTube claims to have data that disproves independent research — but, refuses to share that data
‼️ YouTube dismisses independent research into this topic as misguided or anecdotal, but refuses to allow third-party access to its data in order to confirm this
👉🏼 Read more:
https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/congratulations-youtube-now-show-your-work/
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_DE
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_EN
📡@BlackBox_Archiv
Earlier this week, #YouTube finally acknowledged their #recommendation #engine suggests harmful content. It’s a small step in the right direction, but YouTube still has a long history of dismissing independent #researchers. We created a #timeline to prove it.
Over the past year and some, it’s been like clockwork.
First: a news story emerges about YouTube’s recommendation engine harming users. Take your pick: The #algorithm has radicalized young adults in the U.S., sowed division in #Brazil, spread state-sponsored #propaganda in #HongKong, and more.
Then: YouTube responds. But not by admitting fault or detailing a solution. Instead, the company issues a statement diffusing blame, criticising the research methodologies used to investigate their recommendations, and vaguely promising that they’re working on it.
In a blog post earlier this week, YouTube acknowledged that their recommendation engine has been suggesting borderline content to users and posted a timeline showing that they’ve dedicated significant resources towards fixing this problem for several years. What they fail to acknowledge is how they have been evading and dismissing journalists and academics who have been highlighting this problem for years. Further, there is still a glaring absence of publicly verifiable data that supports YouTube’s claims that they are fixing the problem.
That’s why today, #Mozilla is publishing an #inventory of YouTube’s responses to external #research into their recommendation engine. Our timeline chronicles 14 responses — all evasive or dismissive — issued over the span of 22 months. You can find them below, in reverse chronological order.
💡 We noticed a few trends across these statements:
‼️ YouTube often claims it’s addressing the issue by tweaking its algorithm, but provides almost no detail into what, exactly, those tweaks are
‼️ YouTube claims to have data that disproves independent research — but, refuses to share that data
‼️ YouTube dismisses independent research into this topic as misguided or anecdotal, but refuses to allow third-party access to its data in order to confirm this
👉🏼 Read more:
https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/congratulations-youtube-now-show-your-work/
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_DE
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_EN
📡@BlackBox_Archiv