YouTube, Google and Censorship — Alternative Media Cries Foul

August 19th, 2017

By Carolanne Wright

Contributing writer for Wake Up World

Last March, Google instructed its evaluators to flag pages returning “conspiracy theories” or “upsetting content” unless it was clear “the user is seeking an alternative viewpoint.” In typical double-speak language, Google’s guidelines leave much to be desired in clarity and specifics.

Apparently the search engine giant decided last spring that, in its war against “fake news”, not only would it revamp its guidelines for evaluators, it would also adjust its algorithms to block “offensive” sites, while promoting those of more “authoritative content.”

Around the same time, Google-owned YouTube also went through an overhaul. This time, to protect advertisers from their ads appearing on videos promoting “hateful, offensive and derogatory content” and “potentially objectionable” content.

While this may sound straightforward, there seems to be an elephant in the room that’s being overlooked: Who determines what’s “offensive, authoritative, derogatory or potentially objectionable”? Google? Advertisers? The site owners themselves? An individual who flags content?

As with any kind of censorship, once we begin questioning who is controlling information and for what purpose, we drop into a rabbit hole of complexity with no easy answers.

CONTINUE READING:

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