Google CEO Wants To Prevent Content From YouTube Not 'Exactly' in Line With Company Policies

Ferlon Webster Jr. | June 10, 2019
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Google CEO Sundar Pichai appeared on “Axios on HBO” Sunday to discuss what the Silicon Valley-based company was doing about all the “hate speech” and “harmful content” that appears on YouTube.

Google has often been accused of allowing YouTube creators to produce content that crosses the line and leftists have pushed for bans on people with whom they disagree (i.e. conservatives). Most recently, this took place with Stephen Crowder’s “Louder with Crowder” channel.

“We rank content based on quality,” Pichai told Axios. “And so we are bringing that same notion and approach to YouTube so that we can rank higher quality stuff better and really prevent borderline content, content which doesn’t exactly violate policies — which need to be removed — but which can still cause harm."

Pichai did not define what he meant by “borderline content” but with him saying it is “content which doesn’t exactly violate polices,” it’s probably safe to say that Google will attempt to be the authoritarian on what is correct or protected by free speech and what is not. This means they can restrict or remove any content they deem as “unsafe” regardless if that is actually the case. 

“We are working hard,” he continued. “It’s a hard computer science problem. It’s also a hard societal problem because we need better frameworks around what is hate speech, what’s not, and how do we as a company make those decisions.”

As many on Twitter acknowledged, this could likely mean YouTube will become a place for only the "big news networks" to thrive as the company pushes the “little man” — who has a different viewpoint — to the side.

This comes as President Trump accuses companies such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter of discriminating against him, meanwhile they maintain they are free of political bias in their decision-making.

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