A group of more than 80 fact-checking organizations from around the world has called YouTube “one of the leading channels for disinformation and the spread of false information online around the world” and wants the platform to do more to address the issue. .
In an open letter to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki published Wednesday, the group said the platform’s current measures to combat disinformation are “proving insufficient” and set out a series of recommended steps to improve its approach, including providing more context and belittle, as well as reducing the ability of disinformation spreaders to monetize their content on the platform.
The letter comes amid ongoing concerns about online misinformation, especially related to elections and health claims. YouTube faced less scrutiny than another tech giant, Facebook (now a division of parent company Meta), which received a similar letter in November 2016.
“YouTube is allowing its platform to be weaponized by unscrupulous actors to manipulate and exploit others, and to organize and raise funds,” the letter says. “We urge you to take effective action against disinformation and the spread of false information, and to develop a roadmap of policy and product interventions to improve the information ecosystem – and do so with independent fact-checking organizations rather than partisan ones. ”.
Meta, Twitter and YouTube have partnered with fact checkers over the years. Meta’s effort is generally considered the most robust, as it involves partnerships with 80 fact-checking organizations, in 60 languages around the world, certified by the independent International Fact Checking Network. YouTube, for its part, says it collaborates with hundreds of publishers to direct users in various countries to reliable information on fact-checking panels.
In a call with reporters ahead of the letter’s publication, several signatory members said they had met several times with representatives from YouTube and corporate brother Google to discuss working together to combat disinformation, but said the company’s commitments still fell far short. .
“Nothing moves, nothing changes,” Cristina Tardáguila, founder of Brazilian fact-checking organization Agência Lupa, said during the call. “I think the big difference here is […] that it’s time to put heavy pressure on YouTube. They’ve been around for a long time.”
In a statement to CNN Business about the letter, YouTube spokeswoman Elena Hernandez called fact-checking a “crucial tool” but “a piece of a much larger puzzle for dealing with the spread of misinformation.” ”.
“Over the years, we’ve invested heavily in policies and products in every country we operate in to connect people to official content, reduce the spread of misinformation, and remove infringing videos,” said Hernandez. “We’ve seen important progress keeping consumption of misinformation by recommendations significantly below 1% of all views on YouTube and only about 0.21% of all views are of infringing content that we later remove. We are always looking for meaningful ways to improve and will continue to strengthen our work with the fact-checking community.”
YouTube has taken some steps to combat misinformation. For example, when users search for “Covid-19” on the platform, the results page links to information from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and displays videos from official news sources first. YouTube has suspended figures like Republican senators Rand Paul and Ron Johnson for violating its Covid-19 misinformation policies. And it has a year-long suspension policy that mandates escalating punishments for repeated violations of its community guidelines, which prohibit “certain types of deceptive or false content with a serious risk of serious harm,” including harmful health remedies or content intended to suppress privacy. participation in the US census.
But the fact-checking group says it wants YouTube to create a clearer and more consistent system for working with fact-checking organizations. The letter asks YouTube to “publish its full moderation policy regarding misinformation and false information, including the use of artificial intelligence and what data feeds it.”
“YouTube’s focus should be on providing context and offering unmasks, either clearly overlaid on videos or as additional video content,” the letter states. “This can only happen by entering into a meaningful and structured collaboration […] and systematically invest in independent fact-checking efforts around the world.”
The letter’s signatories include fact-checking organizations from over 46 countries, including Africa Check; the Rappler, from the Philippines; Science Feedback, from France; Factly, from India; Colombiacheck, from Colombia; FactCheck.org and The Washington Post Fact-checker, from the United States. The letter specifically points to deficiencies in YouTube’s ability to moderate non-English language content and raised concerns about the cross-border spread of disinformation.
“We would like YouTube to be really serious about languages other than English, other countries than the United States,” said Carlos Hernández-Echevarría, head of public policy and institutional development at Maldita, a non-profit fact-checking and verification organization. of social media. (YouTube spokesperson Hernandez said the platform enforces its policies globally and that its systems work to reduce potentially infringing content and promote official content around the world.)
The letter also urges YouTube to take action against accounts whose content is repeatedly flagged as disinformation. Proposed actions include removing these accounts’ ability to monetize that content through ads or directing users to external payment platforms and ensuring that YouTube’s algorithm does not promote misinformation.
YouTube said in 2020 it banned coordinated groups like QAnon and Proud Boys, known for spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation about voting and elections. The platform says it has taken similar actions in other countries.
In late September, YouTube announced measures to clamp down on anti-vaccination claims. The platform said at the time that it would remove the channels of several known disseminators of vaccine misinformation and that videos promoting misinformation about currently approved and administered vaccines would be taken down and whoever posted them would be subject to its suspension policy. Still, critics have questioned why YouTube waited so long to take such actions.
The signatories of the letter said they look forward to meeting with Wojcicki to discuss implementing the suggestions to “make YouTube a platform that truly does its best to prevent misinformation and false information from being used as weapons against its users and society at large.” ”.
This content was originally created in English.
original version
Reference: CNN Brasil
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
