Study finds You Tube is a gateway to far-right ideologies.

Tech Crunch: Study of YouTube comments finds evidence of radicalization effect.

Research presented at the ACM FAT 2020 conference in Barcelona today supports the notion that YouTube’s platform is playing a role in radicalizing users via exposure to far-right ideologies.

The study, carried out by researchers at Switzerland’s Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne and the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil, found evidence that users who engaged with a middle ground of extreme right-wing content migrated to commenting on the most fringe far-right content.

A March 2018 New York Times article by sociologist Zeynep Tufekci set out the now widely reported thesis that YouTube is a radicalization engine. Followup reporting by journalist Kevin Roose told a compelling tale of the personal experience of an individual, Caleb Cain, who described falling down an “alt right rabbit hole” on YouTube.

Their paper, called “Auditing radicalization pathways on YouTube,” details a large-scale study of YouTube looking for traces of evidence — in likes, comments and views — that certain right-leaning YouTube communities are acting as gateways to fringe far-right ideologies.
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We reached out to YouTube for a response to the research but the company did not reply to our questions.

The company has tightened its approach toward certain far-right and extremist content in recent years, in the face of growing political and public pressure over hate speech, targeted harassment and radicalization risks.

It has also been experimenting with reducing algorithmic amplification of certain types of potentially damaging nonsense content that falls outside its general content guidelines — such as malicious conspiracy theories and junk science.

You Tube didn't reply to questions from Tech Crunch? Why, that's shocking. You Tube customer service is the finest ever, hands-down. Must be something temporary or they're short-staffed due to the flu.

It's impossible to visit You Tube and not fall into an "alt-right rabbit hole", isn't it? Happens all the time. I'll be watching an AC/DC video and then, just like Hillary says, those Dark Web Right Wing Videos fly by, you don't know what you really just viewed, you don't really remember what it was, can't find it again, and then free-fall into unintended depths of "alt-right rabbit holes".

I haven't read Switzerland’s Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne and the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil study, but I'm betting it's pretty junky science, both capricious and arbitrary.

Oh, yeah - who's Zeynep Tufekci? Here ya go.
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US Army veteran Mark Domingo plotted a terror attacks on far-right rally, on Jews, churches and police in revenge for a New Zealand mosque shooting.

Mark Domingo

BBC: US veteran arrested over terror plot.

Muslim convert Mark Domingo, 26, was allegedly in the final stages of a plan to bomb what local media described as a far-right rally in California.

He was arrested on Friday after accepting what he believed to be a live bomb, delivered by undercover officers.

Mr Domingo had expressed support for violent jihad, say prosecutors.

According to court documents, the suspect - who had combat experience in Afghanistan - took steps to build and detonate a weapon of mass destruction.

"This investigation successfully disrupted a very real threat posed by a trained combat soldier who repeatedly stated he wanted to cause the maximum number of casualties," said federal prosecutor Nick Hanna in a statement on Monday.
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[Domingo] posted online that "America needs another Vegas event" in order to "give them a taste of the terror they gladly spread all over the world", said prosecutors.
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He allegedly purchased "several hundred nails" meant to be used as shrapnel inside the improvised explosive device (IED).

"Domingo said he specifically bought three-inch nails because they would be long enough to penetrate the human body and puncture internal organs," the affidavit says.
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If convicted, Mr Domingo could face a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison. 

USA MacPaper via Yahoo News: Army Veteran supported Islamic State, say Federal authorities.

Domingo, whose military service included combat in Afghanistan, was arrested Friday night by FBI agents after they said he conducted surveillance of his intended target, a public park in Long Beach. He was accompanied by two others who he thought were to be accomplices in the attack but who are actually an undercover FBI agent and informant who helped make the case against him.

Domingo, who lives in Reseda, California, is charged with providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists.

What is a "far-right rally"? Is it a rally that's the same as an AntiFa rally, only with a different political perspective?

If he is convicted, Socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders wants people like Domingo to be able to vote. If not convicted, Domingo would likely be welcomed with open arms, and a salaried position, within the Sanders campaign organization.

Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian presidential candidate, will accept election results only if he wins. Sounds like Hillary Clinton!

From The Keene Sentinel:

Brazil’s leading presidential candidate, far-right former army captain Jair Bolsonaro, said that he wouldn’t accept an election result that doesn’t grant him victory.
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...Bolsonaro was asked how he thought the military would react if Fernando Haddad, the leftist Workers’ Party candidate, were to be elected president.
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“I can’t speak for the commanders,” he replied. “From what I see on the streets, I won’t accept any result other than my election.”

Other than Bolsonaro described as a "far-right(er)", he has the same winning/loss mental receptor mis-firing as LOSING DEMOCRAT Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

 Left: The LOSER. Right: Jair Bolsonaro

Also similarly, because Bolsonaro is "far-right", "tens of thousands of women" are united in protesting his candidacy. CBS News: 

In downtown Rio de Janeiro, a crowd that was heavily women shouted: "Sexists and fascists won't advance!"

"Sexists and fascists won't advance!" That sounds vaguely familiar. Where have I heard that?