LOS ANGELES, July 6 (UPI) -- The documentary The YouTube Effect, in theaters Friday, traces the video streaming site from its 2005 origins to the present. And producer-director Alex Winter and producer Gale Anne Hurd say their documentary explains why YouTube enabled hate speech and conspiracy theories.
"What keeps people on platforms is building anger, rage, resentment," Hurd told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. "It's not just accidental. They're being guided down that particular rabbit hole."
Winter interviewed YouTube co-founder Steve Chen, former CEO Susan Wojcicki and many content creators for the documentary. The YouTube Effect explains how YouTube's algorithm chooses videos to queue up next.
Caleb Cain speaks firsthand about how YouTube introduced him to right-wing conspiracy videos. Cain's experience was algorithm-driven, but Winter said people also are predisposed to seek out such content.
"The negative sort of hate-filled, violence inducing or inciting rhetoric are very gripping," Winter said. "You don't need an algorithm for that to be a problem. That's just a human nature problem."
Where hate and violence becomes disproportional, Winter said, is when YouTube profits off selling advertisements in those highly viewed videos. The YouTube Effect cautions users that profits are enabling misinformation or inciting rhetoric to cross their paths.
"What company is going to want to police itself when it's monetizing that type of content?" Winter asked rhetorically. "Somebody who's pounding a table and calling for civil war may get more folks watching them than someone who's talking about the latest Indie movie."
Winter alluded to InfoWars host Alex Jones as the table pounder calling for civil war. Winter said clips of Jones appear in The YouTube Effect under fair use. The documentary did not have to license clips from Jones because they were reporting on his use of YouTube.
"Fair use is a very, very important component of being able to get stories told, and to be able to shine a light on what's going on in the world," Winter said.
The film also highlights the positives of YouTube, Hurd said. It was also important to show how YouTube empowers creators.
"This was never intended to be a hit piece," she said. "We also wanted to show that it enables people to find community."
ContraPoints host Natalie Wynn, a trans woman, also spoke to Winter for The YouTube Effect. Hurd said the trans community is just one example of groups that can find each other via YouTube.
In presenting a balanced portrait, Hurd said, participation by Chen and especially Wojcicki were vital.
"If we didn't have someone like her speaking on behalf of the platform, we didn't feel we could make the documentary," Hurd said.
As a feature film producer, Hurd has also dealt with the dangers of technology. The Terminator films warned of an artificial intelligence that used killer robots to enslave humanity.
The YouTube algorithm may not have terminators in the shape of Arnold Schwarzenegger at its command, but Hurd said it still is up to humans to demand checks and balances for such technology.
"The fact that dangerous things could be developed without any guardrails was something we were very much concerned about [in The Terminator]," Hurd said. "I think that it's always difficult to close the barn door after the horses get out."
Hurd said she selected Winter to direct The YouTube Effect based on his technological documentaries about Napster, Blockchain and the Silk Road underground Internet.
It is the director and producer's first project together, though Winter said he auditioned for a role in Hurd's Aliens that he did not get when he was an actor.
Winter said Google's acquisition of YouTube in 2006 made the story of the video platform broader.
"I was very intrigued by Google's rise, which is YouTube's rise, as well," Winter said. "They're kind of inseparable."
Winter said The YouTube Effect concludes at a point necessitating further discussion. Already Winter is following a June 27 Wall Street Journal story revealing that YouTube violated promises to advertisers not to place its ads on questionable content.
"We're heading into an election year, and it's a very critical and pivotal moment in history," Winter said. "All the issues that the film is engaging with are about to collide."
Hurd also expressed concern for the role YouTube played in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capital, along with Twitter, Facebook and other social media.
"The platforms have all allowed disinformation, including disinformation about the last election results, to be aired on their platform," Hurd said. "One of the reasons Jan. 6 happened, where we had essentially an attempted coup in this country, is because of this information about who won the election."
Winter said he hopes more progress can be made with users demanding YouTube act responsibly with the content it platforms.
"It's not an easy thing to get these companies to reform themselves," Winter said. "They're making a lot of money, and they're not incentivized to make less money."
