Summary:
In this paper, the authors explored hate, violence, and discriminatory bias in right-wing YouTube channels. They analyzed the lexicon, topics, and implicit biases in the videos as well as the comments [1]. They found that right-wing channels contain a higher percentage of negative words a higher bias against immigrants, Muslims, and LGBT people [2].
Reflection:
The paper was well-written and well-explained; however, it could have had better discussion. They could have talked more about cause rather than just correlation. The authors could have also talked about why this study is significant and what are the implications of these findings. The results themselves were not all that surprising. Some questions I had related to future work are:
- What is, if it exists, the correlation between these videos and hate-based or discrimination-based violence?
- How fast do these videos spread in comparison to other videos?
- Could the results from this study help better classify political messages?
- What similarities, if any, are found between right-wing channels and left-wing channels?
In the introduction, the researchers briefly cover why they explored this topic, but their reasoning is not that strong and does not explain why this study is important. The “far-right” has a reputation of expressing and encouraging hate, violence, and discrimination, so I don’t see what the purpose in exploring this further would be unless to prove this reputation as true. I think a better angle to take on this topic would be to ask how the hate, violence, and discrimination represented in right-wing content affect the general population. I think they could have also looked at the ‘timeline’ of a developing right-wing supporter and how right-wing content encourages or discourages them to continue supporting.
Overall, I think the paper explored an unsurprising topic and got an unsurprising result. Looking at the same topic with an emphasis on social context or social implications would have made for a better study.
