Deplatforming, demotion and folk theories of Big Tech persecution

Abstract

This article examines the moderation of conspiracy narratives surrounding COVID-19 through digital methods analysis of deplatformed or demoted videos. Building upon the literature on moderation, it performs a comparison of the types of content moderated by YouTube during the early stages of the pandemic. It seeks to determine the extent to which YouTube's own moderation actions are brought in as part of the conspiratorial narratives surrounding COVID-19, while investigating how it is that moderation becomes entangled with questions of truth and visibility.This article examines YouTube’s moderation of conspiracy narratives surrounding COVID-19 through an analysis of deplatformed and demoted YouTube videos. Building upon the literature on moderation, it compares the types of content moderated by YouTube from April to October, 2020. In doing so, it seeks to determine the extent to which YouTube's own moderation actions are brought in as part of the conspiratorial narratives surrounding COVID-19, while investigating how it is that moderation becomes entangled with questions of truth and visibility.   Keywords: content moderation, conspiracy theories, YouTub