A master thesis from Aalborg University
Up Next: The Manosphere: YouTube’s Anti-Feminist Communities’ Power to Radicalise and How to Prevent It
[Up Next: The Manosphere]
Author(s)
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2021
Submitted on
2021-06-10
Pages
69 pages
Abstract
The online manosphere contains communities where misogyny, anti-feminism, and other harmful ideologies are spread, and has been linked to what is called male-supremacist terrorism which studies point to being on the rise in many Western states. Less research has been made in Denmark on online radicalisation of users in the manosphere. This thesis aims to determine if YouTube’s recommendation algorithm radicalise in anti-feminist ways and examine preventative solutions which can be made in Denmark. This thesis problem field was analysed based on reviews of literature of YouTube’s recommendation algorithm, desk research of preventative measures for online radicalisation, and two conducted expert interviews from Denmark. The thesis finds that YouTube’s recommendation algorithm has been found to guide users towards content with extremist tendencies, and that the algorithm (especially) seems to recommend channels in the manosphere to users watching mainstream political content like CNN, Barack Obama, and Bernie Sanders. On this basis, it is recommended that legislation and governmental bodies in Denmark work to ensure ability to monitor, test, and evaluate machine learning algorithms, so that changes can be ensured when needed. The thesis also recommends several other suggestions, where further research is needed post-implementation to monitor their effects.
Keywords
algoritme ; YouTube ; radikalisering ; manosfæren ; manosphere ; radicalisation ; terrorism ; terror ; algorithm ; machine learning algorithms ; feminism ; feminist ; digital kultur ; digital culture ; online
Documents
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