Does YouTube discriminate against women?
The video platform YouTube is regularly cited for its toxic atmosphere: sexist comments, moral harassment, lack of inclusiveness. Women seem to be less present than their male colleagues. Are they there voluntarily, or is the aim to exclude them from YouTube? How are female YouTubers treated, compared to male YouTubers? And what happens when your livelihood is turned against you? We took a closer look.
On April 11, 2019, Katie Bouman was thrust into the limelight for having, with her team, made it possible to develop the CHIRP algorithm, capable of representing the black hole for the first time in history. Since then, the MIT engineer has been the victim of cyber attacks. While her Wikipedia page was flagged, videos questioning her legitimacy in this scientific feat invaded social networks. Two days after the publication of the famous photo, the videos appearing in the top positions on YouTube are either videos trolling the researcher, or videos of her colleagues. It was only when these videos were reported to YouTube that they were once again listed in the top results. It’s a shame it had to come to this.
Only 10% of the most popular YouTube channels in France are run by women
In France, a recent ranking* of the 100 most popular YouTube channels reveals that only 10% of them are run by women. And yes, that’s not very many! In January 2019, a study by the Haut Conseil à l’Égalité entre les femmes et les hommes (HCE) revealed that the videos of ultra-popular French YouTubers Cyprien and Norman are over 80% sexist. In other words, women are either not visible, or they are stigmatized or denigrated.
Discrimination = less money
This situation has consequences for female YouTubers. Despite a sufficient or even growing number of views, they often see their content demonetized. “Videos of men miming masturbation or talking about the male sexual organ continue to get a lot of visibility on the platform, videos dealing with female sexuality, abortion or even menstruation still find themselves demonetized,” explains Marie, founder of the French association Les Internettes. “For example, sex-education videos by Queen Camille, madmoiZelle magazine’s sex reporter, are systematically demonetized and flagged under 18. The problem isn’t the removal of advertising from women’s videos, since this business model is currently making virtually no money. We suspect – and many influential video creators think so too – that demonetized videos are less, if at all, recommended by the algorithm.”
Sexist comments
Beyond the discoverability of YouTube women’s content, another gendered scourge is rampant on the platform. It’s all about the comments left on videos. In June 2019, a 15-year-old female online video game player, Bocchi, won a game of Super Smash Bros. The video of her taking on a player named Ally is posted on YouTube. Following her victory, the American teenager became the victim of fairly violent cyber harassment, questioning just about everything: her victory, her choice of avatar, her seniority in the game, etc…. Her opponent was also mocked for losing to a girl. The two protagonists have since left the social networks to preserve themselves.
On the other side of the globe, an Australian study denounces the sexism and abusive language of YouTube video comments among female scientists. After scrutinizing 23,000 comments found on 391 YouTube channels dedicated to science, new technologies and mathematics, researcher Inoka Amarasekara came to the conclusion that only 10% of popular science videos were made by women, and that 14% of comments were sexist or insulting, compared with 6% for videos created by men on the same subject.
Sexist content and comments reported on YouTube are not removed
What is YouTube doing to combat these practices?
There are many grey areas in the regulations, and the actions put in place to combat this abusive behavior are discreet, if not non-existent.
In France, the HCE submitted a report (PDF) in February 2018 denouncing cyber control in couples and sexist and sexual harassment online. To this end, a study carried out since July 2017 analyzed the various platforms of which YouTube was one. It reveals that of all the sexist comments and content reported, a total of 98 among the “trending” (most popular) videos and their associated comments, 0 have been removed.
Women are often accused of being paranoid and overreacting to these comments, but the facts are there. There are serious questions to be asked about the integrity of the video platform and the efforts being made to make it healthier.
Despite a historic mobilization in the West to combat sexist and sexual abuse and behavior towards women on the Internet, it has to be said that a great deal of work remains to be done, both in terms of the acceptance of self-expression, and in terms of the place given to women; obstacles that still need to be overcome if we are ever to achieve true parity.
