{"id":14557,"date":"2022-02-18T02:40:09","date_gmt":"2022-02-18T02:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/18\/youtube-looking-for-new-ways-to-fight-the-spread-of-misinformation\/"},"modified":"2022-02-18T02:40:09","modified_gmt":"2022-02-18T02:40:09","slug":"youtube-looking-for-new-ways-to-fight-the-spread-of-misinformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/18\/youtube-looking-for-new-ways-to-fight-the-spread-of-misinformation\/","title":{"rendered":"YouTube looking for new ways to fight the spread of misinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Google LLC-owned YouTube said today that it\u2019s in process of adopting new measures to tackle how misinformation spreads on the platform.<\/p>\n

Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan said in a blog post<\/a> that there were three main issues that need to be attended to: catching misinformation before it goes viral, addressing the problem of cross-platform sharing and curbing the spread not just in English but in languages all around the globe.<\/p>\n

Per that last point, in January 80 groups of fact-checkers based all over the globe said YouTube wasn\u2019t doing enough to prevent the spread of misinformation. In a signed letter<\/a> to the company, the conclusion was that whatever YouTube was already doing was \u201cinsufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYouTube is allowing its platform to be weaponized by unscrupulous actors to manipulate and exploit others, and to organize and fundraise themselves,\u201d said the letter. \u201cWe urge you to take effective action against disinformation and misinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems this might have motivated YouTube into action. The company said that its combination machine learning and human tools already take down content pretty fast but admitted that it\u2019s just not good enough and needs to \u201cevolve,\u201d just as disinformation evolves from 9\/11 truthers to new vaccine conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo address this, we\u2019re continuously training our system on new data,\u201d said YouTube. \u201cWe\u2019re looking to leverage an even more targeted mix of classifiers, keywords in additional languages, and information from regional analysts to identify narratives our main classifier doesn\u2019t catch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another problem is the sharing of what YouTube calls \u201cborderline videos,\u201d videos that don\u2019t quite meet the requirements to get taken down, but content that YouTube feels shouldn\u2019t go viral. YouTube said there\u2019s a simple solution to this, and that\u2019s disabling the share button or breaking the link on videos. \u201cBut we grapple with whether preventing shares may go too far in restricting a viewer\u2019s freedoms,\u201d said the company.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, YouTube said perhaps a better approach could be attaching what it called a \u201cspeed bump\u201d to such videos, a warning that tells viewers that this shared video they\u2019re about to watch could contain some sketchy information. That way consumers gets to make up their own minds and perhaps the warning will encourage them to do some more research.<\/p>\n

As for the third problem, the global issue, this one is tricky. \u201cCultures have different attitudes towards what makes a source trustworthy,\u201d explained the company. \u201cIn some countries, public broadcasters like the BBC in the U.K. are widely seen as delivering authoritative news. Meanwhile, in others, state broadcasters can veer closer to propaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n

How do you label fake news when dictatorial governments are some of the most active spreaders of it? YouTube said the answer is likely to grow its teams in various countries so cultural nuances will be better understood.<\/p>\n

Photo: Alexander Shatov<\/a>\/Unsplash<\/h5>\n
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