YouTube has recently de-monetised many content creators deemed controversial, including Dan Dicks of Press for Truth, and in the past it has temporarily banned numerous accounts of people who dare to speak out on controversial issues, including Richie Allen and Max Igan.
Yet YouTube's algorithms repeatedly recommend videos featuring highly controversial figures such as Oswald Mosely, leader of the British Union of Fascists in the 1930s, who was described by Time magazine as "Britain's Hitler"; David Irving, known for his denial of the Holocaust, and Enoch Powell, the politician who became known for his incendiary speeches on race relations in the 1960s and 70s.
Today these figures would undeniably be accused of "hate speech" – so why is YouTube repeatedly displaying videos featuring these divisive people as "Recommended for you" – while actively penalising channels for voicing opinions that some people disagree with?
These are not just occasional occurrences. These videos have been put in my "recommended" list again and again over the past six or eight months. It was in March that I started taking screen grabs of them, because I was getting sick of the sight of blooming David Irving and Oswald Mosley! I would understand it if I was a frequent viewer of similar material, but I never ever watch this kind of stuff – and to illustrate this, in my video I go through my YouTube "History" from April on.
My most consistently viewed channel is the Corbett Report, and I watch other "independent media" channels, including Tony Gosling's Public Enquiry, Richie Allen and We Are Change. I also watch a lot of mountaineering and climbing videos, weather reports, yoga and some other random stuff.
I also don't generally look up anything to do with Oswald Mosley, David Irving or Enoch Powell online, and I avoid using Google's search engine anyway, so this is not a reflection of my online interests. In fact, I'm starting to wonder if YouTube is trying to "nudge" me towards watching this kind of content. I'd be interested to know if other viewers of independent media channels are being similarly "nudged".
And by the way, I'm not saying that these videos should be banned. It's good that they are available for historical research – and because I believe in free speech. I just question YouTube's motives in repeatedly, over many months, pushing them at me – despite the fact that I have never even attempted to view any one of these videos, or any similar content.
I was born in 1962, so I've lived through times when people like Enoch Powell were stirring up racial hatred and division. As a black person born in the UK, it was very scary to think that politicians wanted to "repatriate" you to a country you'd never even visited before.
But younger people might view these "recommended" interviews out of context, and they could be pushed towards increasingly extreme views. So it seems to me that in recommending these videos, YouTube is actively encouraging what in this day and age would be seen as "hate speech", while hypocritically penalising other content creators who have no real interest in spreading hate.
What the hell is YouTube playing at?
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