According to fact-checking organizations, YouTube’s efforts to remedy the issue are insufficient.
More than 80 fact-checking organizations have urged YouTube to address widespread disinformation on the platform. The organizations claim the Google-owned video network is “one of the principal conduits of online deception and misinformation worldwide” in a letter to CEO Susan Wojcicki published on Wednesday.
They claim that YouTube’s efforts to fix the issue are insufficient. “We don’t see much effort by YouTube to implement measures that address the problem,” the letter states. “On the contrary, YouTube is allowing unethical actors to use its platform to influence and exploit others, as well as to organize and finance themselves.” According to these organizations, the problem is most prevalent in non-English speaking countries and the global south.
Rappler in the Philippines, Africa Check, Science Feedback in France, and dozens of other organisations are members of the International Fact-Checking Network. They chastised YouTube for framing disinformation debates as a “false choice” between deleting or not deleting content. According to the fact-checkers, displaying fact-checked information is more successful than deleting content.
They believe that YouTube should focus on giving background and debunking that is “clearly superimposed” on videos. They also demanded that YouTube take action against repeat offenders and increase efforts to combat misinformation in languages other than English.
YouTube spokesperson Elena Hernandez stated in a statement that the business has “spent extensively in rules and tools in all countries where we operate to connect people to authoritative content, minimize the spread of borderline disinformation, and delete violative videos.”
She described fact-checking as “a critical tool to assist viewers to make their own educated decisions,” but added that it is “only one component of a much larger puzzle to combat disinformation.”
