Marketing itself as a corrective to the monopoly of mainstream media, YouTube has reduced the barriers of access for people to create and star in their own content regardless of their economic and cultural cachet. Among those taking advantage are “political influencers” or “ideological entrepreneurs” – creators who disseminate and monetise politics as content using the techniques of brand influencers to grow audiences. In part shaped by the platform they are on, creators selling politics suffuse their discourse and performance with an anti-elite and transgressive messaging. Ultimately, this has implications for the legitimisation of conspiracies and the mainstreaming of the far right. As with any type of influencing, the creator is the central figure, performing a relatable and authentic identity …

Back in November, the BBC published a report into the online abuse (or ‘toxicity’ as the report termed it) that MPs suffer on social media. The report was eight months in the making and put an AI tool that had been built by the BBC themselves at the heart of the research. However, upon the publishing of the research to much fanfare online, flaws in the report became swiftly apparent. The BBC had linked directly to the tool itself in the report, which allowed anyone to test the tool. Users began to test certain slurs, particularly those of a racialised nature. Highly offensive terms for Jewish, Black and Hispanic people went entirely unrecognised by the tool. Well known far-Right and …