A simple comment under a video. We do not always pay attention to it and yet it is very often hateful. And YouTube, the platform most visited by French Internet users (it is visited by 63% of them), is not spared from this scourge. This is shown by a study carried out by the Medialab of Sciences Po and which appears in the latest report on racism from the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH), made public on Tuesday.
The researchers analyzed the comments* of videos on the platform from journalistic information channels, science popularization, well-known YouTubers, political parties… And it is clear that if the moderation practiced by the platform reduces the number of comments using the toxic register, she fails to eradicate everything. “The use of euphemisms, periphrases, innuendos often makes the work of moderation complex,” explains Benjamin Tainturier, doctoral student at Medialab. Probably because many Internet users have learned to make their hateful comments less detectable so as not to fall under the law.
Regular viewers of these channels…
These video commentators are also among the most frequent and concerned viewers of the channels in question. Their messages are written in response to the video, but sometimes have no connection and “look more like confessions made aloud…”, notes the study.
Among the YouTube channels that most frequently attract hostile comments are those affiliated with the identity right (such as Daniel Conversano, Damien Rieu, Henry de Lesquen…), the confusionist right (Sputnik France **, Juan Branco, Jean -Yves Le Gallou, Florian Philippot) and on the masculinist right (Papacito **, Frédéric Delavier, Julien Rochedy…).
Anti-Muslim comments in force
Not surprisingly, the most hateful comments are directed at Muslims, followed by Jews. “Those who appear under the right-identity and masculinist video channels are more anti-Muslim than anti-Semitic. And conversely, those who appear under right-wing conspiracy sites are more anti-Semitic,” notes the researcher.
Muslims are sometimes mentioned in these messages as an intrinsic threat to the Republic, an unassimilable population, given their traditions which are said to be too far from French secularism. Some liken them to potential terrorists. Commentators also refer to a so-called massive immigration of populations of this faith. “The term” Islamo-leftism “is thus used as a simple stigma to immediately disqualify an opponent or a public figure”, also underlines the study.
Anti-Semitic comments inspired by anti-Zionism
As for the anti-Semitic comments, “they are inspired by anti-Zionism, equating the State of Israel with a ‘terrorist state’, having ties with secret ‘organizations’, and whose affiliated secret services, the Mossad, would constitute an armed wing dedicated to Israel’s domination in the Arab world,” the study said. Some comments believe that the Jews would only be French citizens of facade, which would be especially devolved to Israel. Jews are sometimes presented as “a global elite engaged in a plan for world domination”.
As for the left-wing channels, “they are often the object of raids by far-right commentators, who disqualify their content and make fun of so-called deconstructed men”, observes the researcher. The study also notes in comments on left-wing media “traces of anti-Semitism which, through the detours of conspiratorial rhetoric, develops the worn-out prejudice of the collusion of Jewish populations with the business world. »
Towards digital training for all students?
YouTube channels that are relays of major media are a little less affected by a particular type of comment, due to the diversity of subjects they cover. However, they are not completely spared by these nauseous messages which are based, for example, on a news item to make an offensive judgment on a religious or ethnic group. As for the YouTube channels that assume a mission of popularizing science, they are more often subject to comments on scientific controversies, which can sometimes be conspiratorial.
Be that as it may, this study therefore shows the limits of moderation. “The best system in this area is peer moderation. As it exists on Twitter, where you can report shocking content, ”says Benjamin Tainturier. For its part, the CNCDH recommends the adoption of a national action plan on digital citizenship training in schools. Which would be all the more useful since the majority of YouTube’s audience is made up of young people.