YouTube is major conduit of fake news, factcheckers say

YouTube is a major conduit of online disinformation and misinformation worldwide and is not doing enough to tackle the spread of falsehoods on its platform, according to a global coalition of factchecking organisations.

The letter urges YouTube, which is owned by Google, to make four changes to its operations: a commitment to 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 tackle falsehoods in non-English-language videos.

Disinformation is the deliberate distribution of false information that intends to cause harm, whereas misinformation is when false information is shared but no harm is meant.

YouTube has taken action to quell Covid misinformation and in October 2020 banned misinformation about Covid vaccinations, soon after Facebook had taken similar action on its own platform. A year later, it said it would remove videos that spread misinformation about all vaccines.