'YouTube is a major source of fake news,' says global coalition of fact-checkers

YouTube is a major source of online disinformation and fake news around the world, and it is not doing enough to combat the spread of lies on its platform, according to a global coalition of fact-checking organisations. The video platform is hosting content from groups like Doctors for the Truth, which spread COVID misinformation, and videos that supported the fraud narrative during the US presidential election, according to a letter signed by more than 80 organisations, including Full Fact in the UK and the Washington Post's Fact Checker.

The letter by fact-checking organisations to YouTube urges CEO Susan Wojcicki to make four changes to the operation of the streaming platform. According to The Guardian, the changes are: funding independent research into disinformation campaigns on the platform; providing links to rebuttals inside videos distributing disinformation and misinformation; stopping its algorithms from promoting repeat offenders; and doing more to combat falsehoods in non-English-language videos.

The signatories come from over 40 nations and come from a variety of financial backgrounds. Full Fact; a UK charity, Washington Post Fact Checker; a fact-checking foundation supported by the eponymous newspaper, Maldita, a fact-checking organisation in Spain, and India Today; a unit of the privately held TV Today Network, are among them. The fact-checkers cite examples of inaccurate content regarding the former president of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos – whose son is running for president – and the amplification of hate speech against vulnerable groups in Brazil.

Misinformation is when false information is shared deliberately, with intention to deceive. Disinformation is when false information is shared without the intention of causing harm. According to the factcheckers' letter, YouTube's failure to combat disinformation and misinformation is particularly pronounced in the global south, which includes countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Concerns regarding safety measures in non-English language regions were a major factor in Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen's decision to go public about the company's troubles.

"YouTube is allowing its platform to be weaponised by unscrupulous actors to manipulate and exploit others, and to organise and fundraise themselves. Current measures are proving insufficient," reads the letter to YouTube, according to The Guardian. Further, it describes the Google-owned streaming platform as a “major conduit for falsehoods."

The letter adds, "We hope you will consider implementing these ideas for the public good and to make YouTube a platform that truly does its best to prevent disinformation and misinformation being weaponized against its users and society at large."

YouTube responds by saying 'invested heavily in policies to reduce borderline misinformation'

Elena Hernandez, a YouTube spokesperson, responded to the letter by saying that the company had invested heavily in policies like reducing the spread of "borderline" misinformation, which is a term for content that comes close to – but doesn't quite cross the line of – violating the platform's guidelines, The Guardian reported.

According to YouTube's community guidelines, some categories of misleading or deceptive content with a serious risk of grievous harm is prohibited, including the promotion of hazardous medicines or treatments and election meddling. Non-English language-speaking countries such as Vietnam, India, and Brazil lead the top 10 countries for banned videos, according to YouTube. YouTube has taken measures to combat COVID disinformation, banning misrepresentation about COVID vaccinations in October 2020, shortly after Facebook took similar action on its own site. A year later, it announced that videos which propagated misinformation about all vaccines would be removed.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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