House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is troubled by reports that YouTube continues to amplify extremist content after pledging to crack down on dangerous misinformation and disinformation.
Last month, she joined dozens of other legislators on a letter to Big Tech CEOs, including of YouTube, saying they needed to deal with "fundamental design features of their social networks that facilitate the spread of extreme, radicalizing content to their users."
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Citing an AntiDefamation League analysis, Pelosi responded with a statement Friday (Feb. 12) in an e-mail to media outlets.
“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," she said. "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."
That bill would make social media sites liable for "algorithmic amplification of harmful, radicalizing content that leads to offline violence."
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Pelosi is no fan of social media sites' Sec. 230 immunity from civil liability for third party content.
She tried unsuccessfully to exclude Section 230 language from the USMCA trade deal among the United States, Mexico and Canada.
