YouTube highlighted this week that it is working on new plans to take down misinformation before it goes viral, limiting cross-platform sharing of such content and better highlighting videos with misinformation in languages ​​other than English.
In a recent post made by Neal Mohan, YouTube’s head of product, he revealed the platform’s new measures to prevent the sharing of false information.
YouTube’s attention to cross-platform sharing will limit viewing of dubious videos in accordance with the platform’s misinformation rules. YouTube says that tweaks to these recommendations have greatly reduced consumption of these videos on the platform, but traffic from other sites where the videos are embedded remains an issue.
Possible fixes include disabling the share button or breaking links to videos that have already been suppressed on YouTube. Warnings that a video may contain misinformation are another possible fix and something YouTube already applies to graphic or larger content.
To prevent misinformation around the world, YouTube is considering larger, culturally savvy teams, in addition to partnering with NGOs and local experts. The platform can also add new labels to videos.
The measures are part of YouTube’s latest attempts to balance security and suppress disinformation with free speech, an issue that has been highlighted during the coronavirus pandemic.
Critics argue that YouTube hasn’t tried hard to fix the problems. In January, more than 80 fact-finding groups sent a letter to the platform’s CEO demanding more drastic measures to combat disinformation on YouTube.
With luck, YouTube’s new actions will be able to further mitigate the sharing of this information.
