What is BitChute? Characterizing the “Free Speech” Alternative to YouTube
In this paper, we characterize the content and discourse on BitChute, a social video-hosting platform. Launched in 2017 as an alternative to YouTube, BitChute joins an ecosystem of alternative, low content moderation platforms, including Gab, Voat, Minds, and 4chan. Uniquely, BitChute is the first of these alternative platforms to focus on video content and is growing in popularity. Our analysis reveals several key characteristics of the platform. We find that only a handful of channels receive
doi
10.1145/3372923.3404833
name
What is BitChute? Characterizing the “Free Speech” Alternative to YouTube
pages
2
acm_url
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3372923.3404833
authors
Milo Trujillo, Maurício Gruppi, Cody Buntain, Benjamin D. Horne
doi_url
https://doi.org/10.1145/3372923.3404833
license
restricted
summary
In this paper, we characterize the content and discourse on BitChute, a social video-hosting platform. Launched in 2017 as an alternative to YouTube, BitChute joins an ecosystem of alternative, low content moderation platforms, including Gab, Voat, Minds, and 4chan. Uniquely, BitChute is the first of these alternative platforms to focus on video content and is growing in popularity. Our analysis reveals several key characteristics of the platform. We find that only a handful of channels receive
keywords
social media, social networks, hate speech, online communities
source_pdf
HT-2020_51-35_3372923/3372923.3404833.pdf
import_kind
full_text
open_access
false
ccs_concepts
• Social and professional topics →Cultural characteristics; •
displayAuthor
Milo Trujillo, Maurício Gruppi, Cody Buntain, Benjamin D. Horne