New right-wing video-sharing sites are serving up conspiracies, racism, and graphic violence to millions of viewers.
Video hosting sites BitChute and Odysee have boomed, taking advantage of Big Tech disinformation crackdowns and the rise of Trump. The sites reflect a new media universe, a world where Covid is fake, Russia fights Nazis in Ukraine, and mass shootings are “false flag” operations.
BitChute and its rival Odysee have taken off as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook have tightened rules to combat misinformation and hate speech. They claim to promote free speech. They are at the forefront of a fast-growing alternative media system that serves up once-fringe ideas to millions of viewers around the world.
The sites plunge viewers into a labyrinth of outlandish conspiracy theories, racist abuse, and graphic violence. The viewership on the sites surged since 2019 and has cultivated a devoted audience of mostly younger men.
Online misinformation does not stay online. It typically triggers legal, real-world harm. Experts say platforms like BitChute and Odysee have a seismic impact on the disinformation landscape. The sites became the “first port of call” for conspiracists to publish videos.
BitChute and Odysee say they comply with the law by, for example, removing terrorism-related material, and that they have rules banning racist content or incitement of violence. At the same time, the companies defended the rights of extremists to express themselves on their sites and downplayed the importance of their content.
Despite the platforms’ rules, their users routinely publish overtly racist videos and post comments that call for violence.
All social media platforms publish standards saying that they do not allow for extreme or hateful content. But BitChute and Odysee do not live up to those standards, experts said.
Experts researching the far-right platforms say the relaxed content-moderation practices result in sites that are dominated by incendiary content that most online publishers routinely reject.
Be the first to comment