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Rep Anna Eshoo

Eshoo Responds to Report that YouTube is Continuing to Amplify Extremist Content

February 12, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C.U.S. Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18), member of the Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee, released the following statement in response to a report the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released today that found YouTube is amplifying extremist content despite promises to crack down on dangerous and false information:

"The ADL released a well-researched and troubling report showing that white supremacy and extremist content is proliferating on YouTube and that YouTube's recommendation algorithms are pushing users to more extreme content. These findings are damning. They make a crystal-clear case for why YouTube needs to rethink the core design of its product and why Congress needs to pass the Protecting Americans from Dangerous Algorithms Act which I introduced with Rep. Tom Malinowski to hold these companies accountable for promoting this harmful content."

The report can be found HERE.

In January, Rep. Eshoo led dozens of her colleagues in letters to tech CEOs, including YouTube, urging the companies to address the fundamental design features of their social networks that facilitate the spread of extreme, radicalizing content to their users. Last Fall, Reps. Eshoo and Malinowski introduced the Protecting Americans from Dangerous Algorithms Act, legislation to hold large social media platforms accountable for their algorithmic amplification of harmful, radicalizing content that leads to offline violence.