According to BuzzFeed, YouTube is testing out a new feature which shows fact-check warnings when searching for content known to spread misinformation. The feature is currently live for some users in India and shows "information panels" on search results (not videos themselves) which provide disclaimers acquired from YouTube's fact-checking partners.
A spokesperson from YouTube told BuzzFeed: "As part of our ongoing efforts to build a better news experience on YouTube, we are expanding our information panels to bring fact checks from eligible publishers to YouTube."
Videos containing misinformation won't suffer any change themselves. Instead, the new information panels will serve as a disclaimer that the information in videos associated with a given query may be contentious or misleading.
Images of the new information panels in search on YouTube, via Buzzfeed.
The feature is already live for a "limited number of users," but only in India, and only for searches in English and Hindi. Buzzfeed was told the feature would be rolling out to a wider audience later, but a schedule was not provided. Some of the fact-checking services being used by Google in India are the same ones being used by Facebook in its efforts to fight misinformation.
Examples of content that would receive these information panels provided to Buzzfeed included the search term "CCTV footage of the Pulwama terror attack." Videos which appear in that search are tied to a bomb explosion in Syria, though some individuals have been trying to convince others they represent an attack which occurred in the recent conflict between India and Pakistan.
Inevitably, someone is going to scream censorship at this development, but it sounds like the worst thing we're going to suffer is a much-needed disclaimer that might help stop the spread of things like anti-vaxxer ignorance, which is actually and literally killing people. If you disagree, you can scroll right past it just like you can ignore the warnings on a cigarette carton.
stewie3128 on March 9th, 2019 at 00:25 UTC »
I have an uncle who was a member of the flat Earth society back in the 90s when it was just a fun place for members to play with absurd ideas. None of them, including himself, actually believed that the Earth was actually flat.
Then the idiots discovered it...
CherrySlurpee on March 8th, 2019 at 23:02 UTC »
I cant believe it has come to this.
I thought the flat earth thing was just a bunch of trolls. Then I watched the Netflix documentary and lost a lot of faith in humanity.
"Oh I can see Seattle from here. NOT ROUND." I was just waiting for that guy's mom to smack the shit out of him.
delcaek on March 8th, 2019 at 21:48 UTC »
And yet we all know that the psychos claiming the world is flat and that vaccines don't work are also going to claim that this is just some 'lizard men scheme to spread more lies'.