Oct 31, 2020

Hany Farid Is Not Surprised YouTube Has Not Removed Conspiracy-riddled Channel

From Chicago Tribune

Critics call Gary Franchi’s YouTube channel, the Next News Network, a hive of conspiracy theories. So how has it survived the platform’s conspiracy crackdown?

By John Keilman

The Next News Network is a YouTube channel produced in Chicago’s western suburbs that pumps out a dozen or so aggressively partisan videos each day...

In just the last few months, the channel’s owner and host, Gary Franchi, has showcased several baseless allegations, including a suggestion that antifa might be behind the Western wildfires, an osteopath’s insistence that the COVID-19 pandemic was “a false flag operation” and a claim that Democratic politicians had members of Seal Team 6 killed to cover up a dirty deal with Iran...

One thing YouTube hasn’t done is kick Franchi off...

Franchi’s resilience doesn’t surprise Hany Farid, a University of California at Berkeley computer science [and Information] professor who studies YouTube’s response to conspiracy channels. He said for all the headlines about the crackdown, social media platforms put their financial interests first.

“At the end of the day, you’re pushing up against very powerful companies," he said. "My impression is they do just enough to get people off their backs, but their hearts aren’t into it.”

Read more...

Last updated:

November 10, 2020