Auditing YouTube Content Moderation in Low Resource Language Settings

While there has been increasing attention paid to the potential harms perpetuated by online platforms, most academic work on the subject centers on one narrow context: Western communities in primarily English language settings. Yet, social media platforms like YouTube support users globally and provide content in several languages, including low-resourced languages. In this study, we investigate this context via a mixed methods approach: collecting and analysing search and recommendation data from YouTube in low-resource language settings and conducting semi-structured interviews with YouTube users who speak low-resourced languages in Ethiopia. Our early findings indicate the failure of current content moderation schemes for low-resource languages and the further infliction and distribution of harm to marginalized communities through recommendation systems.