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#BTW21 on YouTube with Mozilla: Got any regrets?

Have you ever watched an automatically recommended video on YouTube you wish you would have never clicked? You’re not alone. For this investigation, Mozilla Foundation and Democracy Reporting International teamed up to analyse three user-reported YouTube Regrets during the German election campaign period. Our main takeaways:

  • YouTube failed to apply its Covid-19 medical misinformation policy to German-language videos.
  • Videos created by pro-AfD, anti-Vax, and nationalist groups on Facebook were viewed by hundreds of thousands on YouTube before the election, using similar examples and patterns of argument.

The case studies presented were self-reported to Mozilla Foundation’s RegretsReporter during the #BTW21 campaign period. The Mozilla RegretsReporter browser extension allows people to send these videos to Mozilla to power their research into people’s experiences on the platform. 

Documents

BTW21 YouTube Regrets Analysis Download