Huffington Post: After New Zealand Massacre, YouTube’s Algorithm Still Promotes Islamophobic Videos
"Just hours after the attack, a search of the term “Muslims” from an incognito browser yielded a list of YouTube’s top-recommended videos, including one with 3.7 million views. The video argued, without evidence, that the majority of Muslims are radicalized. From there, YouTube’s autoplay function took over and recommended another round of videos. One apparently exposes “the truth” about Muslims. Another 'destroys Islam.' 'It’s an echo chamber,' said Joshua Fisher-Birch, a content review specialist at the Counter Extremism Project. 'The more an idea is repeated, the more it may reinforce a viewer’s belief that it is true.' Typing a question such as 'Is immigration bad?' into YouTube may ultimately lead to a rabbit hole of anti-immigrant content, Fisher-Birch explained. The platform’s incentive to promote such videos, he added, is a financial one. The longer people stay hooked on YouTube videos, the more advertising dollars the company rakes in."
The Counter Extremism Project Presents
Enduring Music: Compositions from the Holocaust
Marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Counter Extremism Project's ARCHER at House 88 presents a landmark concert of music composed in ghettos and death camps, performed in defiance of resurgent antisemitism. Curated with world renowned composer, conductor, and musicologist Francesco Lotoro, the program restores classical, folk, and popular works, many written on scraps of paper or recalled from memory, to public consciousness. Featuring world and U.S. premieres from Lotoro's archive, this concert honors a repertoire that endured against unimaginable evil.