YouTube finally in the spotlight over hate speech, moderation

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Editor's note: YouTube, one of the largest social media platforms in the world with 2.5 billion users worldwide, roughly 450 million of whom are Indians, has drawn flak over ineffective moderation practices. A study by the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, published on 10 June, says that the Google-owned YouTube is “weaponized” to target Muslims and women in India, among other international instances of misuse. “The most troubling abuse of YouTube in India involves the targeting of Muslims by backers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and other right-leaning Hindu nationalist groups,” it says. “Menacing online attacks on women often blend with anti-Muslim themes in India. A spate of misogynistic rants by nationalistic Indian YouTube influencers have made such invective popular on the platform.” The report in itself doesn’t reveal anything new or surprising. It mostly refers to news articles, previous smaller studies and instances of reported hate speech and misinformation on the platform. But it's been picked up by publications both Indian and global, which is a change. In the extensive global discourse on social media moderation, liability, …