The Trump ban across social media wasn’t censorship — it was a series of editorial decisions by media companies that call themselves social platforms
Becca Lewis, Business Insider, January 17, 2021
“If this decision-making seems strange to us in the context of social media, it’s partly because platforms have spent the last 10-plus years telling us that they aren’t media companies — that, in fact, they’re revolutionizing public discourse, removing media gatekeepers, and democratizing the spread of information.”
I warned in 2018 YouTube was fueling far-right extremism. Here’s what the platform should be doing
Becca Lewis, The Guardian, December 11, 2020
“YouTube’s attempts to stay apolitical has kept it tied up in knots, focusing decisions on small technicalities.”
White Supremacy in Silicon Valley
Becca Lewis, Tech Workers Coalition Newsletter, October 16, 2020
“Silicon Valley has always been a home to a thriving white supremacist culture: white supremacy has shaped the technologies we use and structured the labor forces that build them.”
All of YouTube, Not Just the Algorithm, is a Far-Right Propaganda Machine
Becca Lewis, Medium FFWD, January 7, 2020
“YouTube’s celebrity culture and community dynamics play a major role in the amplification of far-right content.”
It’s Easy to Despair and Do Nothing After the Halle Synagogue Shooting. But We Shouldn’t
Becca Lewis, Medium FFWD, October 9, 2019
“We don’t have the answers to stop terror attacks being live streamed, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ask questions.”
YouTube’s Bungled PR Announcements Made Carlos Maza’s Harassment Worse
Becca Lewis, VICE Motherboard, June 9, 2019
“YouTube’s big policy announcement ended up acting as incitement to harassment against one of its own creators.”
Why Influence Matters in the Spread of Misinformation
Becca Lewis, Data & Society: Points, November 20, 2018
“Influential accounts can amplify fringe ideas and bring them into the mainstream…Influential accounts build trust with their audiences.”
Forget Facebook, YouTube videos are quietly radicalizing large numbers of people — and the company is profiting
Becca Lewis, NBC News, October 4, 2018
“Extremism on YouTube is interwoven with the platform itself, allowing both extremists and executives to profit from dangerous content.”
Black Panther and the Far-Right
Becca Lewis and Kinjal Dave, Data & Society Media Manipulation: Dispatches from the Field, March 22, 2017
“Nearly every prominent right-wing YouTuber has made some attempt to engage with Black Panther in their videos.”
Megyn Kelly Fiasco is one more instance of far right outmaneuvering media
Becca Lewis and Alice Marwick, Columbia Journalism Review, June 13, 2017
“With the rise of far-right activity online has come a dilemma for mainstream media: Should news outlets work to debunk conspiracy theories, or is it better to ignore them and hope they go away?”
The Online Radicalization We’re Not Talking About
Alice Marwick and Becca Lewis, New York Magazine: Select All, May 18, 2017
“Far-right groups, such as the alt-right, white nationalists, and men’s-rights activists manipulate the mainstream media to amplify their ideas and shape news narratives to their advantage.”