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Published 13:16 IST, September 13th 2019

Mozilla launches campaign against YouTube's recommendation algorithm

Firefox owner Mozilla wants YouTube to fix issues that lead users to harmful videos on YouTube. Mozilla recently launched a new campaign called #YouTubeRegret

Reported by: Tech Desk
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YouTube's recommendation algorithm has been subject to widespread criticism from all corners for quite some time. Now, Firefox owner Mozilla wants YouTube to fix issues with its recommendation algorithm that lead users to harmful videos on the platform. Mozilla recently launched a new campaign called #YouTubeRegret. As part of it, Mozilla wants you to submit your story (via Google form) about how you might have ended up watching a wrongly recommended video on YouTube.

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#YouTubeRegret

"Once, at 2 a.m., you searched YouTube for “Did aliens build Stonehenge?” Ever since, your YouTube recommendations have been a mess: Roswell, wormholes, Illuminati. YouTube’s recommendation engine can lead users down bizarre rabbit holes — and they’re not always harmless. Sometimes they drive people toward misinformation and extreme viewpoints," read the description of the campaign.

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Mozilla said they have a meeting with YouTube in two weeks where they will ask YouTube to "make serious commitments towards fixing this problem." Mozilla added the reason they are collecting user stories discussing how they got to point A to point B, is to pressurise YouTube into fixing their recommendation algorithm.

Ex-YouTube engineer comments

Commenting on Mozilla's campaign, ex-YouTube engineer Guillaume Chaslot, who happens to be one of the vocal critics of YouTube's recommendation algorithm, said: "Now when you see absurd/hateful recommendations on YouTube, you have somewhere to report by which video it started."

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