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(CNN Business) -
A group of more than 80 fact-checking organizations around the world have called YouTube "one of the leading conduits for misinformation and misinformation online worldwide" and want the platform to do more. to address the problem.
In an open letter to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki published Wednesday, the group said the platform's current measures to combat disinformation are "proving insufficient" and presented a series of recommended steps to improve its approach, including providing more context and discredit, as well as reduce the ability of misinformation spreaders to monetize their content on the platform.
The letter comes amid ongoing concerns about misinformation online, especially in relation to elections and health claims.
YouTube, however, has generally faced less scrutiny than tech giant Facebook (now a division of parent company Meta), which received a similar letter in November 2016.
"YouTube is allowing unscrupulous actors to use its platform as a weapon to manipulate and exploit others, and to organize and raise funds," the letter says. "We urge you to take effective action against misinformation and misinformation, and to develop a roadmap of policies and product interventions to improve the information ecosystem, and to do so with independent fact-checking organizations and not partisans of the world. "
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Data verification
Meta, Twitter, and YouTube have partnered with fact-checkers in some way over the years.
Meta's effort is generally considered the most robust, involving partnerships with 80 fact-checking organizations in 60 languages globally, which are certified by the independent International Data-Verification Network.
YouTube, for its part, says it collaborates with hundreds of publishers to direct users in various countries to authoritative information on fact-checking panels.
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In a call with reporters prior to the publication of the letter, members of several of the letter's signatories said they had met several times with representatives of YouTube and its corporate brother, Google, to discuss how to work together to combat misinformation, but said the company's commitments were still falling short.
"Nothing moves, nothing changes," said Cristina Tardáguila, founder of the Brazilian fact-checking organization Agencia Lupa, during the call.
"I think the big difference here ... is that it's time to put a lot of pressure on YouTube. They've been around for a long time."
In a statement to CNN Business about the letter, YouTube spokeswoman Elena Hernández called fact-checking a "crucial tool" but "a much larger piece of a puzzle to address the spread of misinformation."
"Over the years, we have invested heavily in policies and products in every country in which we operate to connect people to authorized content, reduce the spread of boundary misinformation, and eliminate infringing videos," Hernandez said.
"We've seen significant progress, keeping the recommended limit misinformation consumption significantly below 1% of all views on YouTube, and only about 0.21% of all views are from infringing content which we then remove. We are always looking for meaningful ways to improve and we will continue to strengthen our work with the fact-checking community. "
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Fact-checkers from 46+ countries call on YouTube for action
YouTube has taken some steps to combat misinformation. For example, when users search for "Covid-19" on YouTube, the results page links to information from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and first displays videos from authorized news sources. YouTube has suspended figures like Republican Senators Rand Paul and Ron Johnson for violating its Covid-19 disinformation policies. And it has a years-long policy that dictates ever-increasing punishments for repeated violations of its community guidelines, which prohibit "certain types of misleading content with serious risk of egregious harm," including unhealthy remedies or content intended to suppress participation in the US census
But the fact-check group says it wants YouTube to create a clearer and more consistent system for working with fact-checking organizations.
The letter asks YouTube to "publish its full moderation policy regarding misinformation and misinformation, including the use of artificial intelligence and what data drives it."
"YouTube's focus should be to provide context and offer debunks, clearly overlaid on the videos or as additional video content," he says.
"That can only come from entering into a meaningful and structured collaboration ... and systematically investing in independent fact-checking efforts around the world."
The signatories to the letter are fact-checking organizations from more than 46 countries, including Africa Check; Rappler from the Philippines; Science Feedback, from France; Factly from India; Colombiacheck, from Colombia; and FactCheck.org and The Washington Post Fact-checker, from the United States. The letter specifically notes deficiencies in YouTube's ability to moderate content in a language other than English and raises concerns about the cross-border dissemination of misinformation.
"We'd like YouTube to really take languages other than English, countries other than the United States, seriously," said Carlos Hernández Echevarría, head of Public Policy and Institutional Development at the nonprofit fact-checking organization. and social networks Damn.
(YouTube's Hernandez said the platform enforces its policies globally and its systems work to reduce potentially infringing content and promote authorized content around the world.)
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The letter also asks YouTube to take action against accounts whose content is repeatedly flagged as misinformation.
Proposed actions include removing the ability for such accounts to monetize that content through ads or direct viewers to third-party payment platforms, and ensuring that YouTube's algorithm does not promote misinformation.
YouTube has said that in 2020 it banned coordinated groups like QAnon and the Proud Boys, known for spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about voting and elections.
The platform says it has taken similar steps in other countries.
In late September, YouTube announced steps to crack down on claims against vaccines. The platform said at the time that it would remove the channels of several known broadcasters of vaccine misinformation and that videos promoting misinformation about currently approved and administered vaccines would be removed and their hosts subject to its anti-violator policy. Still, critics questioned why YouTube had waited so long to take such action.
The letter signatories said they hope to meet with Wojcicki to discuss the implementation of his suggestions to "make YouTube a platform that really does everything possible to prevent misinformation and misinformation from being used as weapons against its users and society. in general".
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