{"id":33445,"date":"2018-11-13T18:13:54","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T23:13:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/machine-learning-at-youtube-removing-abusive-content\/"},"modified":"2018-11-13T18:13:54","modified_gmt":"2018-11-13T23:13:54","slug":"machine-learning-at-youtube-removing-abusive-content","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/machine-learning-at-youtube-removing-abusive-content\/","title":{"rendered":"Machine Learning at YouTube: Removing Abusive Content"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the first half of 2018, nearly 18 million videos were removed from YouTube, the world\u2019s foremost video-sharing website[1]<\/a>. Of those 18 million videos, 79% were identified by automated systems created by the company to identify content that violates YouTube\u2019s Community Guidelines[2]<\/a>. Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube, acknowledged in an official statement that while YouTube\u2019s \u201copen platform has been a force for creativity, learning, and access to information\u201d, it has also left the company vulnerable to \u201cbad actors exploiting our openness to mislead, manipulate, harass or even harm\u201d YouTube\u2019s community[3]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Combating the proliferation of abusive content is critical to YouTube\u2019s business model. In a recent New York Times article, parents protested the site, claiming that \u201ctheir children have been shown videos with well-known characters in violent or lewd situations and other clips with disturbing imagery, sometimes set to nursery rhymes\u201d[4]<\/a>. Adult users have also expressed frustration. As news of YouTube\u2019s popularity with white supremacy groups and other organizations prone to using hate speech has emerged, the average user is left to question their ability to engage with the platform in a safe way. Only 4% of respondents contacted by Business Insider Intelligence\u2019s 2017 Digital Trust survey felt that YouTube was the safest social media platform to participate in, ranking it last amongst the various platforms, and 44% behind the leader, LinkedIn, and 15% behind its lowest competitor, Twitter[5]<\/a>. Even advertisers are unhappy, frequently severing relationships with YouTube upon learning that their advertisements are displayed next to inappropriate content. In recent years, YouTube and other technology companies have also garnered the attention of national governments. Global leaders have expressed concern about the platform\u2019s ability to monitor its content effectively, particularly as it relates to national security, and UK Prime Minister Theresa May even accused YouTube and other technology companies of providing \u201csafe spaces\u201d for extremist groups and terrorist organizations.<\/p>\n

In the short term, YouTube is taking action to purge their platform of problematic content and restore users\u2019 trust. The company introduced YouTube Kids, which offers curated content and parental control settings to protect younger users. Additionally, videos are increasingly \u201cage-gated\u201d, granting access to only those users that are signed into Google accounts that indicate they are over a certain age. Perhaps the initiative with the most promise, however, is the introduction of machine learning. YouTube teaches machines to make decisions (whether or not to remove content) using training data (past examples of flagged content). Once the negative content is identified by the machines, human reviewers assess whether the video does in fact violate YouTube\u2019s guidelines, and provide a recommendation as to whether the content should be removed from the site. Each video flagged, and subsequent human decision, then serve as data points for the machines, allowing the machines to better identify problematic content going forward.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Machine learning at YouTube has had significant initial success. The speed at which videos are identified and removed has increased dramatically \u2013 77% of all videos removed from April to June 2018 due to machine learning were removed before they received a single view[6]<\/a>. Susan Wojcicki estimates that machine learning is helping human reviewers remove nearly five times as many videos than they were previously able[7]<\/a>. Certainly with continued human supervision and an increasing amount of data, YouTube will be able to further hone the effectiveness of the program. Unfortunately, unlike other companies like StichFix or Uber that have introduced machine learning to manage process improvement and\/or product development with little notice or resistance from consumers, some users are actively trying to beat YouTube\u2019s algorithms. When the use of slur words created red flags for YouTube\u2019s algorithm, users began using \u201cbasketball Americans\u201d to refer to African-Americans, \u201cpopulation replacement\u201d to characterize white genocide conspiracies, and some even resorted to spelling words using numbers to avoid being caught[8]<\/a>. We know that \u201calgorithms draw their power from being able to compare new cases to a large database of similar cases from the past\u201d, but for YouTube, past examples will only remain relevant until users learn not to repeat them[9]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Perhaps YouTube could adopt more rigorous screening processes prior to upload. This would eliminate users\u2019 ability to livestream, but if YouTube waits to screen videos once they are live, are they destined to be one step behind their bad actor users? Alternatively, YouTube could consider creating signals for its algorithms that are not inherent to the actual videos being reviewed (e.g. has the user uploaded abusive content before?). In doing so, the company must strike the right balance of human \/ technical interaction to avoid the impact of human biases. For example, predictive policing has the potential to exacerbate human biases, might the use of machine learning at YouTube to identify extremist groups have similar unintended consequences?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(795 words)<\/em><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Google, \u201cTransparency Report,\u201dhttps:\/\/transparencyreport.google.com\/youtube-policy\/overview?content_by_flag=period:Y2018Q2;exclude_automated:&lu=content_by_flag<\/a>, accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Susan Wojcicki, \u201cExpanding our Work Against Abuse of our Platform,\u201d Broadcast Yourself<\/em> (blog), YouTube, December 4, 2017,\u00a0 https:\/\/youtube.googleblog.com\/2017\/12\/expanding-our-work-against-abuse-of-our.html<\/a>, accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Sapna Maheshwair, \u201cOn YouTube Kids, Startling Videos Slip Past Filters\u201d, The New York Times, November 4, 2017.\u00a0 https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/11\/04\/business\/media\/youtube-kids-paw-patrol.html<\/a>, accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Dylan Mortensen, \u201cMarketers Prefer Social to YouTube for Digital Video Campaigns,\u201d Business Insider Intelligence, August 12, 2016. https:\/\/intelligence.businessinsider.com\/post\/marketers-prefer-social-to-youtube-for-digital-video-campaigns-2016-8<\/a>, accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Google, \u201cTransparency Report,\u201dhttps:\/\/transparencyreport.google.com\/youtube-policy\/overview?content_by_flag=period:Y2018Q2;exclude_automated:&lu=content_by_flag<\/a>, accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Susan Wojcicki, \u201cExpanding our Work Against Abuse of our Platform,\u201d Broadcast Yourself<\/em> (blog), YouTube, December 4, 2017,\u00a0 https:\/\/youtube.googleblog.com\/2017\/12\/expanding-our-work-against-abuse-of-our.html<\/a>, accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Yoree Koh, \u201cHate Speech on Live \u2018Super Chats\u2019 Tests YouTube,\u201d The Wall Street Journal, November 2, 2018. https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/hate-speech-on-live-super-chats-tests-youtube-1541205849?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=2<\/a>, accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Mike Yeomans, \u201cWhat Every Manager Should Know About Machine Learning\u201d, 性视界 Business Review Digital Articles, July 7, 2015, pp. 2\u20136.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

YouTube has become the world’s foremost video-sharing website. Recently, it has faced criticism for the proliferation of abusive content on its platform. 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