A congressional hearing to explore the spread of white nationalism on social media quickly illustrated the problem. A live chat alongside the YouTube stream featured anti-Semitic screeds and arguments that white nationalism is not a form of racism.
By Tony Romm Tony Romm Staff writer covering technology policy Email Bio Follow April 9 at 10:55 AM A congressional hearing to explore the spread of white nationalism on social media quickly served to illustrate the problem Silicon Valley faces, after anonymous users on YouTube began posting vitriolic attacks that targeted others on the basis of race and religion.
The hearing — held by the House Judiciary Committee — was streamed live on the video site owned by Google, which is testifying Tuesday. Alongside the live stream, a live chat featured posts from users, some of whom used it to publish anti-Semitic screeds and argued that white nationalism is not a form of racism.“Anti-hate is a code word for anti-white,” wrote another named Fight White Genocide.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Appearing before the committee, Alexandria Walden, the counsel for free expression and human rights at Google, stressed the tech giant has invested in people and technology to remove content that incites violent or spreads hate. “We know the very platforms that have enabled these societal benefits can be abused,” she said.
In many cases, Nadler said, social-media sites had served as “as conduits to spread vitriolic hate messages to every home,” adding that “Congress in recent years also has failed to take seriously the threat.”
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