YouTube will step up the fight against misinformation and fake news

Fact-checking organizations around the world are calling on YouTube to take stronger action against misinformation on its platform.

In an open letter released Wednesday by the Poynter Institute, a not-for-profit journalism organization, more than 80 fact-checking organizations contacted YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, citing a list of conspiracy theories and misinformation that have proliferated around the world in recent years. The letter states that YouTube is being used as the main point of publication.

“This is why we urge you to take effective action against disinformation and disinformation, and to develop a roadmap for policy interventions to improve the information ecosystem,” the letter reads.

A YouTube spokeswoman said, “Fact checking is an important tool in helping viewers make their informed decisions, but it is a much larger piece of the puzzle in dealing with the spread of misinformation.”

“Over the years, we have invested heavily in policies and products in every country we operate in to connect people to content, reduce the spread of border misinformation, and remove offending videos,” she added, noting that less than 1% of total views on YouTube contain content. Misleading information or violates the rules.

“We are always looking for useful ways to improve and will continue to enhance our work with the fact-checking community.”

YouTube has over 2 billion visitors per month, but it does not disclose the total number of views YouTube generates in any given period of time, making it difficult to contextualize the content rates that are problematic.