YouTube, a video-streaming platform owned by Google, has unveiled plans to combat the spread of misleading content in the lead-up to India’s 2024 general elections.
This was disclosed by YouTube India Director, Ishan Chatterjee, at a recent virtual interaction with the press.
According to him, the platform plans to remove misleading content and provide users with access to high-quality news by collaborating with reputable news publishers and independent journalists.
READ : YouTube creators using AI misinformation to target black celebrities
He emphasized the platform’s commitment to addressing misinformation. He explained that their policies dictate action against content that has been technologically manipulated to deceive users and poses a real-world harm risk.
He added that the second part of YouTube’s strategy focuses on ensuring users’ access to reliable and high-quality news content produced by news organizations and independent journalists.
Director, global head of responsibility at YouTube, Timothy Katz explained that the platform removes videos that could cause “real world harm” and restrict users from viewing misinformation content with no harm risk.
“Just because content is identified as being misinformation, it may or may not violate our content policies. In the example of somebody uploading a video about no human ever landing on the moon before, we think it is a video that should be allowed to be on YouTube as there is no risk of real world harm. But that doesn’t mean we want to recommend that content,” he said.
He added that videos containing misinformation on sensitive events are removed once they are identified. “The criticality of the event matters a lot. In the election, if somebody uploads a video that has misinformation about how to vote, we would remove that content from our platform.”
He expressed the platform’s commitment to serving and supporting the entire spectrum of the news ecosystem.
Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
