By 2021, YouTube’s leadership, including then-CEO Susan Wojcicki, faced a dilemma. While the dislike button helped viewers, the "dislike attacks" were reportedly hurting smaller creators' mental health and discouraging them from posting.
A dislike bot is an automated script or network of fake accounts designed to flood a specific video with thousands of dislikes in a matter of seconds. These bots weren't just used for honest feedback; they became weapons in "dislike attacks," where coordinated groups would target creators to tank their reputation or bury their videos in the algorithm. How They Worked dislike bot youtube