YouTube To Use ‘Information Cues’ To Combat Fake News

While social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have been criticized for allowing fake news to run rampant, more recently it has been discovered that YouTube is also home to fake news and false information, where clear and obvious hoaxes have made it into YouTube’s trending video section, which in turn encourages more viewing.

However YouTube appears to have a plan to deal with such hoaxes in the future. Speaking at SXSW 2018, YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki revealed that YouTube will be using “information cues” as a means to combat false information. These cues will appear in a text box that will link to third-party websites such as Wikipedia where users can read up more on certain topics.

This is similar to some of Facebook’s efforts, where they will provide users with links to websites that either debunk the fake news or offer up more factual information. That being said, Wojcicki did make it clear that YouTube is not a news organization, and that they simply want to deliver the right information to their users.

According to a YouTube spokesperson who confirmed the company’s plans, “We’re always exploring new ways to battle misinformation on YouTube. At SXSW, we announced plans to show additional information cues, including a text box linking to third-party sources around widely accepted events, like the moon landing. These features will be rolling out in the coming months, but beyond that we don’t have any additional information to share at this time.”

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: YouTube