- Neal Mohan, suggests that independent content creators cannot provide context on a piece of news, and they need to be censored.
- Neal Mohan revealed that YouTube’s Intelligence Desk tool is used by the company to target emerging conspiracy theories.
YouTube was initially created to provide a voice to anyone who has a camera, and it’s Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan suggests that the platform should suppress and censor independent content creators who can’t provide context to their opinion on the news when it comes to newsworthy topics.
Neal Mohan, in an interview with Protocol’s editor at large David Pierce, made these comments when asked whether YouTube is slightly behind in moderating content due to the health authorities changing their directions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Mohan said that it is vital to raise the voice of authoritative content creators such as a news source or medical official across YouTube’s platform as other content creators cannot provide the same level of context to news those trustworthy creators can provide. He said that the official channels would provide context and explanations related to specific news, and it will help the viewers of that content to make an informed decision.
The platform has been aggressively censoring conspiracy theories and misinformation during the last few years. Mohan also discussed the ‘Intelligence Desk’ tool during the interview and said that YouTube is now using this tool to target content that may be classified as an emerging conspiracy theory. Intelligence Desk was initially launched to police offensive or inappropriate content across the platform. Mohan explained how the platform is now using this tool in the context of the coronavirus pandemic and claimed this tool is helping YouTube to strike content related to 5G or the coronavirus.
Initial reports on Intelligence Desk states that the tool uses Google data, social media trends, third-party consultants, and user reports to police offensive and inappropriate content.
Mohan also discussed the new changes YouTube is making concerning the COVID-19 pandemic and news coverage in recent weeks. YouTube is taking more actions on more videos during the pandemic and regularly changes its enforcement guidelines 2-3 times in a week.
Mohan’s statement comes as YouTube has largely restricted what content creators are allowed to speak about the coronavirus pandemic during the past few weeks. The platform has made it almost impossible for independent content creators to cover the ongoing events related to the coronavirus. YouTube introduced a new policy according to which any content disagreeing with the existence of the coronavirus and its transmission, as explained by WHO and other health officials, violates YouTube policies. Susan Wojcicki, YouTube’s CEO, took the initiative to another level and said that any content that would go against the World Health Organization would be considered a violation of YouTube’s policies.
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