A number of parents are boycotting Disney after it was revealed that the company has been profiting from a secret algorithm that automatically generates children’s content.
Disney has been hit with a boycott after the news broke that the company has been profiting from a secret algorithm that automatically generates children’s content. The algorithm, which Disney called “Reality Digital,” creates short videos based on user preferences and other factors. These videos are then used to create “shoppable” content, where viewers can purchase products featured in the videos. However, according to researchers at Stanford University and University of California Berkeley, Reality Digital also creates an alarming amount of racist and sexist content.
Parents were horrified when they discovered what their children had been watching on YouTube Kids. Some videos included references to slavery and the Holocaust, while others depicted black people as criminals or used derogatory terms for Hispanic people. The company is being accused of using its algorithms to profit off of racist stereotypes.