In the wake of the Las Vegas shooting, Google's algorithm was under fire for purportedly promoting conspiracy theories that flourished on 4chan's controversial /pol/ channel.
But now Google has another headache from what is arguably the biggest thorn in its side as far as conspiracy theories are concerned: YouTube.
A Guardian report found out that YouTube is actively promoting "Las Vegas shooting= hoax" videos, causing an outcry among survivors and relatives of the victims.
Conspiracy theories in these videos, which feature prominent personalities such as Alex Jones or Paul Joseph Watson, range from the usual, 9/11-truther-style "it was an inside job" to "false flag" allegations.
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They all invite the audience to be suspicious of the media and law enforcement, both plotting together to deceive American citizens about what really happened in Las Vegas.
Mashable conducted a main search on YouTube with the string "Las Vegas shooting" and got the results it expected -- videos from reputable news organisations such as The Guardian, BBC, CBS, CNN and so on.
But things radically change if you look up "Las Vegas shooting video," perhaps because you want to see raw footage from the scene or interviews with the survivors.
It's a basic search, but that's what the algorithm automatically comes up with under "Top News":
A user named "Real Angel of the Apocalypse" claims the real shooter was on the 10th floor and Stephen Paddock, the suspected gunman, was assassinated before the incident. The video isn't extremely popular, just under 20,000 views, but is one example of the constellations of hoaxes and truthers surrounding Las Vegas shooting.
Scrolling down the page, a much more popular video pops up entitled "Las Vegas shooting narrative debunked in 3 videos".
Again, the theory is that shots were being fired from a very low floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel.
But what is really concerning is what happens after you watch the video. YouTube's Autoplay function means its algorithm automatically suggests videos related to the conspiracy. For instance, in this case, that the Las Vegas shooting was an "inside job":
Another video that appeared on the main search from Paul Joseph Watson, editor-at-large of right-wing conspiracy site Infowars, got 1.3 million views. Among the suggested clips is Alex Jones with his 1-million views video "ANTIFA literature Found in Shooter's Vegas Hotel."
(This is part of a popular conspiracy theory among alt-right people that Stephen Paddock is a member of the ANTIFA movement, an umbrella term for far-left activist groups.)
The Guardian talked to survivors' relatives who are outraged by all of this:
“When I see my wife fighting for her life with a gunshot wound to her chest, and my daughter was also shot, it’s pretty conclusive evidence that it did happen,” said Melanson, whose wife, two daughters and two friends escaped alive from the Route 91 Harvest festival Sunday night.
“My daughter texted me … ‘There is a shooting right in front of us’ and another text said, ‘Mom is shot.’”
A YouTube spokeswoman told Mashable:
When it comes to news, we have thousands of news publishers that present a variety of viewpoints available on our news channel, www.youtube.com/news.
When a major news event happens, these sources are presented on the YouTube homepage under ‘Breaking News’ and featured in search results, with the label ‘Top News’.
YouTube faces a staggering 400 hours of video being uploaded on the platform every minute and the platform revels in the fact that it hosts different viewpoints. One of the factors that determines whether news outlets should appear on "Top News" is inclusion in Google News.
