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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Alex Hern UK technology editor

YouTube found to push content about guns to children watching games videos

The researchers created fake ‘user accounts’ – two identified as nine-year-old boys and two identified as 14-year-old boys – for the study.
The researchers created fake ‘user accounts’ – two identified as nine-year-old boys and two identified as 14-year-old boys – for the study. Photograph: Ianni Dimitrov Pictures/Alamy

YouTube’s recommendation algorithm continues to direct young video game fans down dark paths of violent and dangerous content, a report has found, years after critics first raised concerns about the system.

A report from the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a Washington DC-based nonprofit, observed the effects of the video sharing site’s recommendation algorithms on a spread of accounts identified as those of boys aged nine and 14.

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