Content Moderation and Legislative Risk

Resolution Text

Whereas, YouTube and parent company Alphabet have faced numerous problems associated with its content moderation and platform design, including the site being a central repository for and viral propagator of conspiracy theories, propaganda, fake news, extremist, and hateful content and facilitating the sexual exploitation of women and children and other crimes impacting the most vulnerable, including trafficking, sextortion and harassment;

Despite tremendous effort and leadership at YouTube, the platform remains an important part of the Child Sexual Abuse Exploitation Ecosystem, by being a place of contact for grooming and coercion, livestreaming and housing CSA material. For example, in Tanzania, total online child sexual exploitation and abuse-related offences on YouTube increased by 50% in two years between 2017 and 20191 and in Thailand, of the 43 children who were most recently offered money or gifts in return for sexual images or videos, ages 12-17, 60% reported YouTube as the platform it occurred on,2 (in Kenya it was 24%3 and Uganda was 12%4);

Traffickers in certain industries used YouTube to recruit and interact with those eventually trafficked;5

While YouTube has dramatically reduced online extremist content and disinformation and the largely unmoderated platforms BitChute and Odysee have rapidly become amplification chambers for disinformation, hateful content and incendiary and violent material; popular channels including those of Mike Cernovich and Andrew Tate continue to monetize their content on their YouTube Channels6, even while continually flagged for hateful content, disinformation and incitement of violence;”

An American Defamation League survey, “Online Hate and Harassment: The American Experience 2021,” found 21% of those who experienced online harassment or hate reported that at least some of that harassment occurred on YouTube;

The White House has recently convened a Listening Session on Tech Platform Accountability, announcing core principles forthcoming;7

The US State Department recently announced the Roadmap for the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-based Online Harassment and Abuse;8

Standing international law governing digital platforms, which balances harm reduction and rights protection exists in the European Union’s Digital Services Act and Australia’s Online Safety Act of 2021;

Online safety legislation is emerging domestically and internationally including the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, the United Kingdom Parliament’s introduction the Online Safety Bill, and the US bicameral Congressional introduction of the Digital Platform Commission Act of 2022;

Failure to adequately prepare for the implementation of legislation will have a material financial impact on the Company through regulatory fines and penalties;

Be it Resolved: Shareholders request that Alphabet issue a report at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, disclosing whether and how the Company intends to minimize legislative risk by aligning YouTube policies and procedures worldwide with the most comprehensive and rigorous online safety regulations, such as the European Union’s Digital Service Act9 and the UK Online Safety Bill10.

1 https://www.end-violence.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/DH_Tanzania_ONLINE_final_revise%20020322.pdf

2 https://www.end-violence.org/sites/default/files/2022-02/DH_Thailand_ONLINE_final.pdf

3 https://www.end-violence.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/DH%20Kenya%20Report.pdf

4 https://www.end-violence.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/DH_Uganda_ONLINE_final%20Report.pdf

5 https://polarisproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/A-Roadmap-for-Systems-and-Industries-to-Prevent-and- Disrupt-Human-Trafficking-Social-Media.pdf

6 https://bhr.stern.nyu.edu/youtube-report

7 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/08/readout-of-white-house-listening-session-on-tech-platform-accountability/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axioslogin&stream=top

8 https://www.state.gov/2022-roadmap-for-the-global-partnership-for-action-on-gender-based-online- harassment-and-abuse/

9 https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/digital-services-act-package

10 https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3137