The world’s largest video-sharing platform is introducing a new system to help viewers in the US determine whether certain videos contain misleading information.
In a blog post published on Tuesday, YouTube says it will launch its fact-checking information panels in the US following a roll-out in Brazil and India. While the fact-checking feature is primarily a response to Covid-19 misinformation and a number of conspiracy theories that have gone viral, YouTube has also been accused of ignoring Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP scams on the platform, which have fleeced investors and continue to raise concern among regulators, policymakers and industry insiders who are trying to protect consumers and expand the industry.
YouTube’s new fact-checking feature will use “information panels” to verify news articles in a fast-moving cycle by connecting people with over a dozen authoritative sources. The feature will tap over a dozen US publishers including FactCheck.org, PolitiFact, The Dispatch and The Washington Post Fact Checker.
“We’re now using these panels to help address an additional challenge: Misinformation that comes up quickly as part of a fast-moving news cycle, where unfounded claims and uncertainty about facts are common. (For example, a false report that COVID-19 is a bio-weapon.) Our fact check information panels provide fresh context in these situations by highlighting relevant, third-party fact-checked articles above search results for relevant queries, so that our viewers can make their own informed decision about claims made in the news.”
Global payments company Ripple and CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently filed a lawsuit against YouTube alleging that deliberate inaction makes it easy for fraudsters to steal cryptocurrency.
While YouTube’s statement about its new fact-checking feature makes no mention of targeting scammers who are using the platform to try to steal money from its viewers, the company says the new system will take some time to fully ramp up.
“We are committed to our responsibility to protect the YouTube community, and expanding our fact check information panels is one of the many steps we are taking to raise up authoritative sources, provide relevant and authoritative context to our users, and continue to reduce the spread of harmful misinformation on YouTube.”
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