Asklemmy

Calling Al Jazeera „independent“ is quite a stretch. They are funded by Qatar, a authoritarian monarchy based on sharia law, where homosexuality is punishable by death, women’s testimony is worth half of that of men and they have fun punishments such as stoning and flogging.

That doesn’t mean YouTube is not suppressing media. In fact, in my experience the algorithm heavily favors right wing propaganda and has done so for years.

So maybe Al Jazeera has fallen out of favor. Or maybe they have themselves inflated their numbers previously with a method that no longer works, or they are just focusing their propaganda efforts on other, stupider platforms, like TikTok.

I am afraid you are "fucked" if you think AJ is an example of independent media and that YT numbers are enough proof for media suppression. Most people on this planet do not watch YT. And the ones who do tend to be influenced by their algorithms that continuously change. That makes YT numbers as slippery as an eel in a lubricant factory. By which I mean unreliable to start a conspiracy theory about a poor, cash strapped, impeccably impartial artisan media outlet from Qatar. Slash s.

AJ is a government mouthpiece for Qatar, they probably are pumping their numbers with bots. I peg them in the same category as RT and FN, which are also mouthpieces for their respective nations.

that's probably to be expected from youtube

Nah, Al Jazeera went batshit a few years ago imo. It's also partially owned by the Qatar government, so it probably sways with them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_English