A new study has found that YouTube's tool to suggest videos can direct young users to content about guns and violence.
一项新的研究发现,YouTube的视频推送工具可能会引导年轻用户观看有关枪支和暴力的内容。
The study was based on an experiment carried out by the Tech Transparency Project.
这项研究是基于技术透明项目进行的一项实验。
The nonprofit group studies social media services.
这个非营利性组织研究社交媒体服务。
Researchers from the group set up two YouTube accounts that simulated online activity that might be interesting to 9-year-old boys.
该组织的研究人员建立了两个YouTube账号,模拟9岁男孩可能感兴趣的在线活动。
The two accounts contained the exact same information.
这两个账号包含完全相同的信息。
The only difference was that one account chose only to watch videos suggested by YouTube.
唯一的区别是,其中一个账号只选择观看YouTube推送的视频。
The other ignored the video service's suggested offerings.
另一个账号则忽略该视频平台推送的视频。
The organization found the account that chose to watch YouTube's suggestions was flooded with graphic videos.
该组织发现,选择观看YouTube推送视频的账号上充斥着大量清晰的视频。
These included videos about school shootings and instructions for making guns fully automatic.
其中包括有关校园枪击事件的视频,以及如何制造全自动枪支的说明。
Many of the suggested videos violate YouTube's own policies against violent or graphic content.
许多推送的视频违反了YouTube自身制定的反对暴力或清晰视频内容的政策。
YouTube has technology tools that are meant to restrict some kinds of videos.
YouTube拥有旨在限制某类视频的技术工具。
But the study suggests that those tools are failing to block violent content from young users.
但这项研究表明,这些工具未能阻止其向年轻用户推送暴力视频内容。
The researchers involved in the study said the tools even may be sending children to videos that include extremist and violent material.
参与这项研究的研究人员表示,这些工具甚至可能会让儿童观看包含极端主义和暴力内容的视频。
Katie Paul leads the Tech Transparency Project.
凯蒂·保罗是技术透明项目的负责人。
She said, "Video games are one of the most popular activities for kids. You can play a game like ‘Call of Duty' without ending up at a gun shop — but YouTube is taking them there."
她说:“电子游戏是最受孩子们欢迎的活动之一。你可以玩诸如《使命召唤》之类的游戏,而不会去枪支店——但YouTube正在把他们带到那里。”
Paul added, "It's not the video games, it's not the kids. It's the algorithms."
保罗补充道:“这不是电子游戏的问题,也不是孩子的问题,而是算法的问题。”
An algorithm is a set of steps that are followed to complete a computing process or problem.
算法是完成计算过程或问题所遵循的一组步骤。
Social media companies use algorithms to predict what content users might be interested in based on past watch history.
社交媒体公司使用算法根据用户过去的观看历史预测用户可能会感兴趣的内容。
Algorithm tools suggest that content to users.
算法工具向用户推送内容。
The accounts that clicked on YouTube's suggested videos received 382 different gun-related videos in a single month.
点击YouTube推送视频的账户在一个月内收到了382个不同的有关枪支的视频。
The accounts that ignored YouTube's suggestions still received some gun-related videos, but only 34 in total.
那些无视YouTube推送视频的账户仍然收到了一些与枪支有关的视频,但总共只有34个。
A spokeswoman for YouTube defended the platform's protections for children and noted that it requires users under age 17 to get a parent's permission before using their website.
YouTube的一位女发言人为该平台对儿童采取的保护措施进行了辩护,并指出,该平台要求17岁以下的用户在使用其网站之前必须获得父母的许可。
YouTube says accounts for users younger than 13 are linked to a parental account.
YouTube表示,13岁以下用户的账户与父母的账户相关联。
The company noted that it offers several choices for younger viewers that are "designed to create a safer experience for tweens and teens."
该公司指出,其为年轻观众提供了几种选择,“旨在为青少年创造更安全的体验”。
Activist groups for children have long criticized YouTube for making violent and troubling content easily available to young users.
长期以来,儿童活动组织一直批评YouTube让年轻用户很容易就能看到暴力和令人不安的内容。
They say YouTube sometimes suggests videos that promote gun violence, eating disorders and self-harm.
他们表示,YouTube有时会推送宣扬枪支暴力、饮食失调和自残的视频。
In some cases, YouTube has already removed some of the videos that the Tech Transparency Project identified.
在某些情况下,YouTube已经删除了技术透明项目发现的一些视频。
But others remain available.
但其他视频仍然可获得。
Many technology companies depend on computer programs to identify and remove content that violates their rules.
许多科技公司依靠计算机程序来识别和删除违反其规定的内容。
But Paul said findings from her organization's study show that greater investments and efforts are needed to block such material.
但保罗说,她的组织的研究结果表明,需要更多的投资和努力来阻止此类材料。
Justin Wagner is the director of investigations at Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control activist group.
贾斯汀·瓦格纳是枪支管制活动组织“为每个城镇带来枪支安全”的调查主任。
He told the AP that without federal legislation, social media companies must do more to enforce their own rules.
他告诉美联社,如果没有联邦立法,社交媒体公司必须采取更多措施来执行自己制定的规定。
He added, "Children who aren't old enough to buy a gun shouldn't be able to turn to YouTube to learn how to build a firearm, modify it to make it deadlier, or commit atrocities."
他补充说,“那些还不到买枪年龄的孩子不应该在YouTube上学习如何制造枪支,如何对其进行改装以使其更致命,也不应该犯下暴行。”
I'm Bryan Lynn.
布莱恩·林恩为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译,未经授权请勿转载!