Alex Winter’s ‘The YouTube Effect’ Takes a Tough Look at Everyone’s Favorite Cat-Video Platform

Most people know that social media has become a cesspool of disinformation, a digital hydra that feeds off toxicity and conspiracy theories. But somehow YouTube, the second-most-popular site in the world, has avoided the scrutiny that’s come Twitter and Facebook’s way. “The YouTube Effect,” a new documentary from Alex Winter, could change that. It takes a tough look at the role that the Google-owned service played in everything from the Jan. 6 riot to the 2019 New Zealand mosque shooting by promoting election denialism and white supremacy.

“People don’t know that YouTube and Google are the biggest purveyors of disinformation,” Winter says. “One reason is people don’t understand what YouTube is. Is it just a place to watch cat videos, or is it something else? And the second reason you hear about it less is because Google is so deep-pocketed that it has some of the strongest lobbyists in the world working for them. That’s made them less likely to be legislated against.”

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“The YouTube Effect” argues that the most polarizing and provocative content tends to get the widest viewership. Since the platform is ad-based, creators are rewarded for espousing fringe views. Plus, the lo-fi quality of some videos lends them a greater sense of authenticity.

“There’s something about using a webcam and the false sense of intimacy and proximity it conveys that works incredibly powerfully on the brain,” Winter says. “It gives these creators an amazing amount of power.”

And Winter thinks that Google hasn’t done enough to deplatform its most dangerous voices. The reason, he says, is money: “If they take some of these people off YouTube or they change the ad model, it will cut into profits.”

In making his film, Winter spoke to YouTube stars such as Anthony Padilla, who sounds the alarm, as well as Susan Wojcicki, the platform’s former CEO, who emphasizes its sense of community. While Wojcicki may be downplaying the risk YouTube poses, Winter believes a great deal of good does come out of YouTube.

“From its inception, YouTube was wonderful at knocking barriers down for marginalized groups,” he says. “From members of the LGBTQ+ community to BIPOC creators, everyone had a voice here. And that happened long before the rest of the entertainment industry embraced these people.”

Winter, who is still best known for starring as one-half of the zonked-out duo in the “Bill & Ted” movies, knows a lot about tech, having made documentaries on Silk Road and Blockchain. He didn’t approach the subject as a Silicon Valley skeptic, but he is concerned about the direction YouTube is taking.

“YouTube and sites like it are new places for people to congregate,” Winter says. “People are messy, and when they congregate, messy things happen. So now we need to get some traffic lights in before people get hurt.”

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