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YouTube autocomplete algorithm suggested child sexual abuse phrases
YouTube's search autofill algorithm suggested pedophiliac phrases such as 'how to have s*x with your kids' to users searching for 'how to have'. Dozens of users reported the disturbing results. YouTube acknowledged the issue, removed the autocomplete suggestions, and said it is investigating the cause, which may be a coordinated trolling campaign.
- Date it happened
- 2017-11-26
- Organisation involved
- YouTube
- Product, system or model
- YouTube autocomplete algorithm
Where this came from
Attribution
This incident was imported from buzzfeednews.com. Our additions to it — the structured fields, the translation, the checks against other reports — are published under the same licence.
This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.