The rise of YouTube has created a growing space where people can create content, build communities, and share more authentic stories with the world (Consumer Insights, 2013). While YouTube has been used by many to disseminate educational videos, how-tos, glimpses into daily lives, news and more, it also has been a space swirling with misinformation, disinformation, negativity, trolls and hate speech—especially when it comes to contentious topics such as religion. Scholars have studied media and religion for decades, but they have focused more recently on the evolution and advancement of technology and how it has a global and lasting impact on religion, media and culture.
Jehovah’s Witnesses, a minority religion with almost 9 million active members in 238 lands around the world, have been the focus of several content creators on YouTube who have racked up hundreds of thousands of views from their video content. The JW-MAP (Jehovah’s Witnesses Motivations, Attitudes, and Practices) research project includes an investigation and assessment of the prevailing attitudes towards Jehovah’s Witnesses on YouTube in six countries and five continents—Argentina, Canada, France, Great Britain, Japan, and Nigeria—over a five-year period.
This paper focuses on the data and information derived from this research, covering Argentina, Canada and the United States. First, it does so by closely analyzing the transcripts of some of the most popular content creators who focus on Jehovah’s Witnesses. Second, it examines the comments about the religious organization on various YouTube channels native to these countries. Specifically, it delves into how the content of videos and social interactions on these channels depict the organization, its leadership, practices, and core beliefs. It outlines how these representations seem crafted out of new digital spaces and have broader societal influence, legal implications and impact the spread of misinformation. This research also examines how theological debates in the comment sections of the channels of YouTube shape and depict the identity and perceptions of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The intended result is often to provoke and advance stigmatizing stereotypes in public arenas, sometimes calling for legal action or the intervention of authorities against one of the most persecuted religious groups in the world.
Analysis of videos being produced about Jehovah’s Witnesses on YouTube revealed that the majority of content was negative content produced by or featuring former Jehovah’s Witnesses. An alternative space on YouTube, fostered by both content creators and commenters, has been created by former members and news organizations that promote anti-Jehovah’s Witness narratives. These narratives, many times focusing on people’s personal perspectives and other times in the form of news reports, emphasize one side of issues related to Jehovah’s Witnesses from the viewpoints of its ex-members. In the case of ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses building a following on YouTube, one person often grows engagement by seeking out support for their views, discussing controversial issues, searching for acknowledgment, and fostering critical attitudes about the minority religious group. The top codes for the overall analysis – disfellowship and shunning, victim narrative and personal experiences – reveal the personal nature of the content being created by YouTubers. Culture and media may also influence topics being discussed about Jehovah’s Witnesses on YouTube. Results by country varied. Canada content focused on abuse, control, organizational mind control, social death, injustice, and victim groups. Argentina was leading in doctrine discussions. The most popular content on YouTube about Jehovah’s Witnesses in Canada was presented by news organizations, exclusively featuring former members of the group, referring to it as a cult or sect, and discussing topics such as brainwashing, legal action, familial roles, medical treatment and child abuse.
Based on the analysis of comments, the representation of JWs on YouTube is overwhelmingly negative, with anti-JW advocacy groups dominating the discourse. While some users attempt to provide a more balanced perspective, their voices are often drowned out by the cacophony of criticism and negativity. Ultimately, this type of representation on YouTube can have significant implications for JWs’ active members, legal viability, and theological visibility.
This study investigates and assesses the prevailing attitudes towards Jehovah’s Witnesses on social media platforms in six different countries (Argentina, Canada, France, Japan, Nigeria, United Kingdom) over a five-year period. It does so by closely analyzing the portrayal of the organization on various YouTube channels native to these countries. By drawing on critical theories in social media studies, it specifically inquires into how the content of videos and social interactions on these channels depict the organization, its leadership, practices, and its core beliefs. It outlines how these representations seem strategically crafted to impact the organization’s active members and broader societal influence, legal viability, and theological visibility. The research used web scraping Python codes to collect data and qualitative methods, R Studio and various Python libraries to meticulously analyze and interpret results.