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Max_Fisher's profile
Max Fisher
Max Fisher
Max Fisher
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@Max_Fisher

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Max FisherVerified account

@Max_Fisher

Writer @nytimes for The Interpreter, a column exploring the ideas and context behind major world events.

nytimes.com/column/the-int…
Joined October 2008

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    Max Fisher‏Verified account @Max_Fisher 3 Jun 2019

    YouTube’s algorithm has been curating home movies of unwitting families into a catalog of semi-nude kids, we found. YT often plays the videos after users watch softcore porn, building an audience of millions for what experts call child sexual exploitationhttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/world/americas/youtube-pedophiles.html …

    5:52 AM - 3 Jun 2019
    • 6,727 Retweets
    • 7,307 Likes
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    410 replies 6,727 retweets 7,307 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Max Fisher‏Verified account @Max_Fisher 3 Jun 2019

        Each video might appear innocent on its own, a home movie of a kid in a two-piece swimsuit or a nightie. But each has three common traits: • the girl is mostly unclothed or briefly nude • she is no older than age 8 • her video is being heavily promoted by YouTube’s algorithm

        11 replies 543 retweets 1,532 likes
        Show this thread
      3. Max Fisher‏Verified account @Max_Fisher 3 Jun 2019

        Any user who watched one kiddie video would be directed by YouTube's algorithm to dozens more — each selected out of millions of otherwise-obscure home movies by an incredibly sophisticated piece of software that YouTube calls an artificial intelligence. The families had no idea.

        11 replies 475 retweets 1,529 likes
        Show this thread
      4. Max Fisher‏Verified account @Max_Fisher 3 Jun 2019

        We talked to one mother, in Brazil, whose daughter had posted a video of her and a friend playing in swimsuits. YouTube’s algorithm found the video and promoted it to users who watched other partly-clothed prepubescent children. Within a few days of posting, it had 400,000 views

        38 replies 661 retweets 1,719 likes
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      5. Max Fisher‏Verified account @Max_Fisher 3 Jun 2019

        We talked to child psychologists, sexual trauma specialists, psychologists who work with pedophiles, academic experts on pedophilia, network analysts. They all said YouTube has built a vast audience — maybe unprecedented — for child sexual exploitation, with grave risks for kids.

        19 replies 924 retweets 2,298 likes
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      6. Max Fisher‏Verified account @Max_Fisher 3 Jun 2019

        YouTube, to its credit, said it has been working nonstop on this issue since a similar issue was first reported in February. YT also removed some of the videos immediately after we alerted the company, though not others that we did not specifically flag.

        18 replies 254 retweets 1,222 likes
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      7. Max Fisher‏Verified account @Max_Fisher 3 Jun 2019

        YouTube’s algorithm also changed immediately after we notified the company, no longer linking the kiddie videos together. Strangely, however, YouTube insisted that the timing was a coincidence. When I pushed, YT said the timing might have been related, but wouldn’t say it was.

        9 replies 327 retweets 1,415 likes
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      8. Max Fisher‏Verified account @Max_Fisher 3 Jun 2019

        I asked YouTube— why not just turn off recommendations on videos of kids? Your system can already identify videos of kids automatically. The recommendation algorithm is driving this whole child exploitation phenomenon. Switching it off would solve the problem and keep kids safe.

        16 replies 557 retweets 2,532 likes
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      9. Max Fisher‏Verified account @Max_Fisher 3 Jun 2019

        Initially, YouTube gave me comment saying that they were trending in that direction. Experts were thrilled, calling it potentially a hugely positive step. Then YouTube “clarified” their comment. Creators rely on recommendations to drive traffic, they said, so would stay on. 📈

        25 replies 312 retweets 1,280 likes
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      10. Max Fisher‏Verified account @Max_Fisher 3 Jun 2019

        On a personal note, I found reporting this emotionally straining, far more so than I'd anticipated. Watching the videos made me physically ill and I've been having regular nightmares. I only mention it because I cannot fathom what this is like for parents whose kids are swept up.

        63 replies 386 retweets 2,918 likes
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      11. Max Fisher‏Verified account @Max_Fisher 3 Jun 2019

        As I reported last year with @kbennhold, YouTube’s algorithm does something similar with politics. We found it directing large numbers of Germans news consumers toward far-right extremist videos, with real-world implications.https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/07/world/europe/youtube-far-right-extremism.html …

        39 replies 852 retweets 2,240 likes
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      12. Max Fisher‏Verified account @Max_Fisher 3 Jun 2019

        For more on what happens when YouTube and other social networks route an ever-growing global share of human social relations through engagement-maximizing algorithms, read our essay on “the Algorithmification of the Human Experience”: https://static.nytimes.com/email-content/INT_5362.html?nlid=78801897 …

        58 replies 533 retweets 1,836 likes
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      13. Max Fisher‏Verified account @Max_Fisher 6 Jun 2019

        Wow: Senator Hawley has introduced legislation off of our story that would prohibit video-hosting services like YouTube from recommending videos that feature minors. https://www.hawley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2019-06/Protecting-Children-Online-Predators-Act-Highlight.pdf …

        6 replies 120 retweets 551 likes
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      14. Max Fisher‏Verified account @Max_Fisher 6 Jun 2019

        When I asked YouTube about doing exactly this last week, the company did not deny that it was technically capable, and even hinted they might do so voluntarily. Later, YT said they would not do this because it would hurt traffic. Sen. Hawley’s bill would force them to do it.

        4 replies 60 retweets 323 likes
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      15. Max Fisher‏Verified account @Max_Fisher 7 Jun 2019

        More momentum building: Senators Blumenthal and Blackburn send an open letter to YouTube’s CEO about our story, demanding to know, among other things, why YouTube will not turn off recommendations on videos of children. https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2019.06.03%20-%20YouTube%20-%20Child%20Abuse.pdf …

        9 replies 96 retweets 417 likes
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      16. Max Fisher‏Verified account @Max_Fisher 17 Jun 2019

        Samantha Bee did a very good segment on YouTube’s troubles, leading with our story on algorithm-assisted pedophilia:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC18vz5hUUqxbGvym9ghtX_w …

        1 reply 62 retweets 206 likes
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      17. End of conversation

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