A coalition of fact-checking organizations urged YouTube to take action against COVID error messages

More than 80 prominent fact-checking organizations around the world are urging YouTube to take action on COVID misinformation, which has been popular on the platform for two years and is still prevalent today. "As an international network of fact-checking organizations, we monitor how lies are spread online — every day, we see YouTube as one of the world's leading channels for disinformation and misinformation online," the Coalition of Fact-Checkers wrote in an open letter published in Poynter, "a major concern for our global fact-checking community." ”

Fact-checking organizations that signed the letter are located around the world, including organizations such as PolitiFact, The Washington Post Fact Checker and Poynter MediaWise in the United States, as well as Dubwa and Africa Check in Africa, Fact Crescendo and Factly in India, and many organizations from indonesia, Israel and Turkey.

The group notes that misinformation about health has long found fertile ground on video-sharing sites, including content that encourages cancer patients to fight their illness with unscientific treatments.

"Over the past year, we have seen the cabal flourish and cross-border cooperation, including an international movement that began in Germany, then to Spain and eventually spread to Latin America, all on YouTube," the letter reads. Meanwhile, millions of other users are watching videos in Greek and Arabic that encourage them to resist vaccinations or treat their COVID-19 infections with fake therapies. ”

The letter also highlights the particular danger of misinformation spreading in non-English videos. Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen called attention to similar issues on the platform, which also has no average investment in content moderation outside of English-speaking countries. Fact-checking groups encourage YouTube to provide country-specific and language-specific data and transcription services for any language to resist the flow of misinformation in languages other than English, and the company's moderation method is mainly aimed at English.

Fact-checkers don't just ask questions — they also propose solutions, pointing out that the company should create more transparency around its misinformation and disinformation policies, plus supporting independent researchers who specialize in these issues. The group also urged YouTube to step up its efforts to debunk misinformation and provide immediate context on the platform, both strategies that could be achieved by deepening cooperation with fact-checking organizations.

Facebook and Twitter have long faced intense public scrutiny over the spread of misinformation on their platforms, while YouTube has often managed to fly under the radar. Its recommendation algorithms have played an active role in facilitating dangerous claims in recent years, but because, like TikTok, the platform is video-based rather than text-based, it's often harder for researchers to study, and it's difficult for lawmakers who hold tech accountability hearings to understand.

"YouTube is allowing its platform to be used as a weapon by unscrupulous actors as a way to manipulate and exploit others and organize and raise funds," the group wrote. Current measures have proved insufficient. ”