Googling around shows there used to be a 'Don't recommend this channel' button which would be awesome to have back.
I find it very annoying listening to a two hour debate, understanding difficult topics and then disagreeing with the speaker and being unable to block content from said speaker.
There's a bunch of one-topic people pushing their opinions out to the youtube user base and it would be great not to have to see their face in 30 different suggestions after you find yourself deeply disagreeing with their opinions or you're just done with their conversations after hearing all of their views.
It's still there on my Chrome desktop or Youtube app on android.
I think Youtube's recommendation algorithm is an abomination that has caused real harm to society.
Try watching a comedian that's slightly edgy like bill Burr, you get immediately showered in videos of people "showing feminists what's what" or "shutting up liberals". I'm not even American, not right wing, but YouTube seems to try its hardest anyway.
According to the current scuttlebutt lore, Youtube makes a concerted effort to steer users towards authoritative sources (typically the big media brands), especially on spicier subjects. This is in response to the recent slew of articles accusing Youtube of user radicalization.