YouTube Recommend Videos Promoting Guns School Shootings Violence to 9 Year Old Young Gamers Research Details

Video sharing platforms run on a special algorithm, which works to suggest videos to users according to their usage. However, YouTube may face criticism for this algorithm. A latest study found that YouTube targeted young gamers’ accounts with videos promoting guns, school shootings and a movie about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

This of Tech Transparency Project (TTP) Study This raises concerns about the safety of YouTube’s recommendation system and its impact on the well-being of young users. The study created four test YouTube accounts, two of which were identified as nine-year-old boys and two as 14-year-old boys. These accounts were run like real youth and showed interest in video games by watching gaming playlists.

Researchers analyzed the videos suggested by YouTube’s algorithm for these underage accounts, some of which were on gaming topics as recommended, but some were completely different and worrying.

YouTube claims that the platform gives responsible recommendations, but this research showed something else. It was found that YouTube suggested content related to shooting and weapons in all gamer accounts. However, accounts that clicked on the suggested videos were suggested a lot of content related to guns and shootings. These recommendations included videos depicting school shootings, how to convert weapons into automatic weapons, and a film about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

Many of these videos are from YouTube on violence, weapons and child safety. policy violate. Despite this, YouTube appears to take no action to age-restrict or remove the video.