Misinformation is perhaps the single biggest problem that the tech world is currently facing, which means that it has become more important than ever for companies to start cracking down on it. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that YouTube has taken a few truly crucial steps in this regard, and these steps have had a positive impact on reducing misinformation on the general internet based information ecosystem that YouTube happens to be a big part of along with other major social media sites and platforms.
Researchers at NYU have discovered that YouTube’s misinformation crackdown following the debacle that was the 2020 US presidential election has reduced the occurrence and spread of misinformation on Twitter and Facebook as well with all things having been considered and taken into account. There was a massive increase in fake news and misinformation following the election on November 3rd, and by December YouTube had made it a priority to remove any and all videos that were casting any sort of aspersion on the election results which was something that had turned into a really big problem among people that supported the losing candidate Donald Trump.
This directly resulted in a drop in misinformation on Twitter of about 20%, and even greater numbers were seen on Facebook. The occurrence is understandable because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up preventing people from seeing conspiracy videos in the first place since YouTube is very often the place where these videos originate in the first place. This shows how a single tech entity behaving responsibly can help the whole system work better, but it does not indemnify other companies from not doing their part since only in that instance would misinformation become a thing of the past.
Read next: Google And YouTube Are Dedicating Themselves To Burning Climate Change Misinformation By Removing Content And Monetization On Such Types Of Content
Researchers at NYU have discovered that YouTube’s misinformation crackdown following the debacle that was the 2020 US presidential election has reduced the occurrence and spread of misinformation on Twitter and Facebook as well with all things having been considered and taken into account. There was a massive increase in fake news and misinformation following the election on November 3rd, and by December YouTube had made it a priority to remove any and all videos that were casting any sort of aspersion on the election results which was something that had turned into a really big problem among people that supported the losing candidate Donald Trump.
This directly resulted in a drop in misinformation on Twitter of about 20%, and even greater numbers were seen on Facebook. The occurrence is understandable because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up preventing people from seeing conspiracy videos in the first place since YouTube is very often the place where these videos originate in the first place. This shows how a single tech entity behaving responsibly can help the whole system work better, but it does not indemnify other companies from not doing their part since only in that instance would misinformation become a thing of the past.
Read next: Google And YouTube Are Dedicating Themselves To Burning Climate Change Misinformation By Removing Content And Monetization On Such Types Of Content