YouTube said it is planning changes to give users more context for videos promoting conspiracy theories or state-sponsored content, the latest effort by an internet giant to clean up its platform amid criticism over its role in spreading misinformation.

YouTube said it would on Friday start labeling all videos from what it identifies as state-funded broadcasters. The step would affect a range of sources, including the U.S.’s Public Broadcasting Service, or PBS. But it is significant in part because YouTube has been a major... </s> YouTube said it is planning changes to give users more context for videos promoting conspiracy theories or state-sponsored content, the latest effort by an internet giant to clean up its platform amid criticism over its role in spreading misinformation.

YouTube said starting Friday it would label all videos coming from what it identifies as state-funded broadcasters, a category that would include even the U.S.’s Public Broadcasting Service, or PBS. The step is significant in part because YouTube has been a major conduit for... </s> (CNN Money) — YouTube will now add a label to videos that come from state-funded media outlets, the Google-owned company announced on Friday.

A notice will appear under the videos for any outlets that received some level of government or public funding. It will also include a link to the Wikipedia article about that broadcaster for viewers to glean more information about the news source.

“News is an important and growing vertical for us and we want to be sure to get it right, helping to grow news and support news publishers on YouTube in a responsible way,” Geoff Samek, senior product manager for YouTube News wrote in a blog post published on Friday. “This work follows a series of changes we made throughout 2017 to better surface authoritative news content.”

Company spokespeople said some labels will appear as soon as Friday, but added that the initiative is still new and developing.

In an example on the YouTube blog, a video from Radio Free Asia — which is funded by the US’ agency, the Broadcasting Board of Governors — includes a note with an information symbol under the video but right above the title. “RFA is funded in whole or in part by the American government,” it states.

Other outlets affected include PBS and the Russian-funded network, RT.

Spokespeople for YouTube said they consulted with third-party groups to draw up the list of outlets that will receive the label. It’s not clear yet whether videos from certain shows such as Sesame Street, which airs on PBS, will also be labeled on YouTube.

The spokespeople also defended its decision to direct users to Wikipedia articles about the various broadcasters. Though Wikipedia articles can be edited by anyone, the spokespeople said they trust Wikipedia’s editors to present an aggregate of information about the various outlets and their funding.

YouTube, along with other internet and social media companies, have faced increasing criticism over the past year for how they selectively filter content that comes from questionable sources, and those that promote propaganda or conspiracy theories.

A spokesperson for PBS pushed back YouTube’s latest move, saying labeling “PBS a ‘publicly funded broadcaster’ is both vague and misleading.”

“PBS receives a small percentage of its funding from the federal government; the majority of funding comes from private donations,” the spokesperson said. “More importantly, PBS is an independent, private, not-for-profit corporation, not a state broadcaster. YouTube’s proposed labeling could wrongly imply that the government has influence over PBS content, which is prohibited by statute. If YouTube’s intent is to create clarity and better understanding, this is a step in the wrong direction. We are in ongoing discussions with YouTube on this issue, but we have yet to reach a satisfactory solution.”

For RT, which has 2.2 million subscribers on its YouTube channel, the label is the latest in a series of obstacles the network faces in the United States as concerns grow over Russia’s meddling in American politics.

In November, the Department of Justice forced RT to register as a foreign agent after the broadcaster was singled out in a intelligence community report issued early last year about Russia’s attempts to influence the 2016 US election.

RT furiously protested DOJ’s decision and in retaliation, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed amendments into law, passed by the Russian parliament in November, that will list foreign media outlets in Russia as “foreign agents,” which could open foreign media outlets up to harsh audits and possible closure. Russian officials also sent letters to news organizations in Russia that are backed by the US government, warning them of possible “restrictions.”

RT did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Part of Russia’s new restrictions might include labeling content from American government-funded outlets like Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty and Current Time television as coming from a “foreign agent.”

Nasserie Carew, communications director for the Broadcasting Board of Governors — which oversees American government-funded outlets abroad like Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and Current Time — said the BBG disagreed with the new policy and noted that the agency’s “legislative firewall prohibits interference by U.S. government officials in the objective, independent reporting of news.”

“If YouTube’s goal is to help the consumer identify ‘authoritative news content’, this policy falls short. It is deeply misleading, factually inaccurate, and irresponsible to lump BBG networks and propaganda outlets including those funded by China and Russia under one broad label,” Carew said. “We hope to work with YouTube to draw a sharp distinction between the two.” </s> YouTube will now add a label to videos that come from state-funded media outlets, the Google-owned company announced on Friday.

A notice will appear under the videos for any outlets that received some level of government or public funding. It will also include a link to the Wikipedia article about that broadcaster for viewers to glean more information about the news source.

"News is an important and growing vertical for us and we want to be sure to get it right, helping to grow news and support news publishers on YouTube in a responsible way," Geoff Samek, senior product manager for YouTube News wrote in a blog post published on Friday. "This work follows a series of changes we made throughout 2017 to better surface authoritative news content."

Company spokespeople said some labels will appear as soon as Friday, but added that the initiative is still new and developing.

In an example on the YouTube blog, a video from Radio Free Asia -- which is funded by the US' agency, the Broadcasting Board of Governors -- includes a note with an information symbol under the video but right above the title. "RFA is funded in whole or in part by the American government," it states.

Other outlets affected include PBS and the Russian-funded network, RT.

Spokespeople for YouTube said they consulted with third-party groups to draw up the list of outlets that will receive the label. It's not clear yet whether videos from certain shows such as Sesame Street, which airs on PBS, will also be labeled on YouTube.

The spokespeople also defended its decision to direct users to Wikipedia articles about the various broadcasters. Though Wikipedia articles can be edited by anyone, the spokespeople said they trust Wikipedia's editors to present an aggregate of information about the various outlets and their funding.

YouTube, along with other internet and social media companies, have faced increasing criticism over the past year for how they selectively filter content that comes from questionable sources, and those that promote propaganda or conspiracy theories.

A spokesperson for PBS pushed back YouTube's latest move, saying labeling "PBS a 'publicly funded broadcaster' is both vague and misleading."

"PBS receives a small percentage of its funding from the federal government; the majority of funding comes from private donations," the spokesperson said. "More importantly, PBS is an independent, private, not-for-profit corporation, not a state broadcaster. YouTube's proposed labeling could wrongly imply that the government has influence over PBS content, which is prohibited by statute. If YouTube's intent is to create clarity and better understanding, this is a step in the wrong direction. We are in ongoing discussions with YouTube on this issue, but we have yet to reach a satisfactory solution."

For RT, which has 2.2 million subscribers on its YouTube channel, the label is the latest in a series of obstacles the network faces in the United States as concerns grow over Russia's meddling in American politics.

In November, the Department of Justice forced RT to register as a foreign agent after the broadcaster was singled out in a intelligence community report issued early last year about Russia's attempts to influence the 2016 US election.

RT furiously protested DOJ's decision and in retaliation, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed amendments into law, passed by the Russian parliament in November, that will list foreign media outlets in Russia as "foreign agents," which could open foreign media outlets up to harsh audits and possible closure. Russian officials also sent letters to news organizations in Russia that are backed by the US government, warning them of possible "restrictions."

RT did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.

Part of Russia's new restrictions might include labeling content from American government-funded outlets like Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty and Current Time television as coming from a "foreign agent."

The BBG did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the new YouTube label. </s> YouTube will now add a label to videos that come from state-funded media outlets, the Google-owned company announced on Friday.A notice will appear under the videos for any outlets that received some level of government or public funding."News is an important and growing vertical for us and we want to be sure to get it right, helping to grow news and support news publishers on YouTube in a responsible way," Geoff Samek, senior product manager for YouTube News wrote in a blog post published on Friday. "This work follows a series of changes we made throughout 2017 to better surface authoritative news content."Company spokespeople said some labels will appear as soon as Friday, but added that the initiative is still new and developing.In an example on the YouTube blog, a video from Radio Free Asia -- which is funded by the US' agency, the Broadcasting Board of Governors -- includes a note with an information symbol under the video but right above the title.Other outlets affected include PBS and the Russian-funded network, RT.Spokespeople for YouTube said they consulted with third-party groups to draw up the list of outlets that will receive the label. It's not clear yet whether videos from certain shows such as Sesame Street, which airs on PBS, will also be labeled on YouTube.The spokespeople also defended its decision to direct users to Wikipedia articles about the various broadcasters. Though Wikipedia articles can be edited by anyone, the spokespeople said theyYouTube, along with other internet and social media companies, have faced increasing criticism over the past year for how they selectively filter content that comes from questionable sources, and those that promote propaganda or conspiracy theories.A spokesperson for PBS pushed back YouTube's latest move, saying labeling "PBS a 'publicly funded broadcaster' is both vague and misleading.""PBS receives a small percentage of its funding from the federal government; the majority of funding comes from private donations," the spokesperson said. "More importantly, PBS is an independent, private, not-for-profit corporation, not a state broadcaster. YouTube's proposed labeling could wrongly imply that the government has influence over PBS content, which is prohibited by statute. If YouTube's intent is to create clarity and better understanding, this is a step in the wrong direction. We are in ongoing discussions with YouTube on this issue, but we have yet to reach a satisfactory solution."For RT, which has 2.2 million subscribers on its YouTube channel, the label is the latest in a series of obstacles the network faces in the United States as concerns grow over Russia's meddling in American politics.In November, the Department of Justice forced RT to register as a foreign agent after the broadcaster was singled out in a intelligence community report issued early last year about Russia's attempts to influence the 2016 US election.RT furiously protested DOJ's decision and in retaliation, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed amendments into law, passed by the Russian parliament in November, that will list foreign media outlets in Russia as "foreign agents," which could open foreign media outlets up to harsh audits and possible closure. Russian officials also sent letters to news organizations in Russia that are backed by the US government, warning them of possible "restrictions."RT did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.Part of Russia's new restrictions might include labeling content from American government-funded outlets like Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty and Current Time television as coming from a "foreign agent."The BBG did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the new YouTube label. </s> YouTube today said it’s launching a change to its service that will offer viewers more transparency around where news broadcasters get their funding. According to a company announcement, YouTube will now add notices below videos that are uploaded by broadcasters who receive some level of government or public funding.

“Our goal is to equip users with additional information to help them better understand the sources of news content that they choose to watch on YouTube,” explained Geoff Samek, Senior Product Manager YouTube News, in the company’s blog post.

The feature’s launch was earlier reported by The WSJ, which explained how the change may help to tackle the ongoing “fake news” problem that’s spanning the web, where fringe conspiracy theories and propaganda are often given equal visibility and attention as legitimate news sources.

The change will affect sources like the U.S.’s Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), but will also increase the visibility around foreign state news organizations, like Russia’s RT. As The WSJ also pointed out, U.S. intelligence officials dubbed RT “the Kremlin’s principal international propaganda outlet.”

This new label will initially appear only to users in the U.S., and it may not always be accurate.

A “Send Feedback” form will also be available in the case that issues with attribution arise, YouTube says.

While increasing the transparency around government-funded news reporting will help, to some extent, in providing more context around news videos on YouTube’s site, it doesn’t at all go far enough to address the larger issue with fake news, conspiracy theories, or other content that’s designed to influence public opinion for either financial or political gain.

However, YouTube says that addressing the fake news problem is one of several goals it has for 2018.

As part of its efforts in tightening its content policies, the company says it’s planning to work with news partners to roll out more solutions to highlight authoritative news sources on its site in 2018.

YouTube claims it has already made progress in this area by better surfacing content from authoritative news sources on the homepage in a new “Breaking News” section as well as in search.

This goal was announced alongside several others this morning, as part of YouTube’s to-do list for the year.

Other initiatives include better communication with creators, giving creators better monetization tools, the expansion of social features like the Community tab and Reels, and increased investment in educational content. </s> YouTube on Friday began labeling news broadcasts that get government money as it vowed to be stricter about content at the globally popular online video-sharing service.

A feature being rolled out in the US displays notices below videos uploaded by news broadcasters which receive government or public money, according to a blog post by YouTube News senior product manager Geoff Samek.

“Our goal is to equip users with additional information to help them better understand the sources of news content that they choose to watch on YouTube,” Samek said

“News is an important vertical for us and we want to be sure to get it right.”

The move is likely to affect videos from services such as Russia-backed RT, which critics call a propaganda outlet for Moscow, but others as well.

The blog post included a screen shot with a disclaimer about the US government-funded Radio Free Asia. The flagging may also apply to state-chartered news organizations such as the BBC and AFP, and US-based public broadcasters.

Notices displayed with state-sponsored news broadcasts will include links to Wikipedia online encyclopedia so viewers can find out more about agencies behind the reports, according to Samek.

The feature is nascent and will be refined based on feedback from users.

YouTube made a series of changes last year intended to “better surface authoritative news,” according to Samek.

YouTube priorities for this year include tightening and better enforcing rules at the service, according to chief executive Susan Wojcicki.

“The same creativity and unpredictability that makes YouTube so rewarding can also lead to unfortunate events where we need to take a clear, informed, and principled stance,” Wojcicki said in an online post.

“We realize we have a serious social responsibility to get these emerging policy issues right.”

Solutions being worked on include enhanced software smarts and more human review of videos uploaded to YouTube, according to Wojcicki.

The number of workers at YouTube and Google focused on content that might violate policies was to increase to more than 10,000.

“We’re also currently developing policies that would lead to consequences if a creator does something egregious that causes significant harm to our community as a whole,” Wojcicki said.

YouTube last month announced ramped-up rules regarding when it will run ads with videos as it scrambled to quell concerns by brands about being paired with troublesome content.

YouTube late last year pulled 150,000 videos of children after lewd comments about them were posted by viewers. </s> Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

YouTube said Wednesday that the platform will begin banning videos promoting Nazi ideology as well as those denying “well-documented violent events” such as the Holocaust or the Sandy Hook massacre.

"Today, we're taking another step in our hate speech policy by specifically prohibiting videos alleging that a group is superior in order to justify discrimination, segregation or exclusion based on qualities like age, gender, race, caste, religion, sexual orientation or veteran status," the company wrote in a blog post.

The company noted that “it will take time for our systems to fully ramp up."

The video platform has been under pressure from experts and watchdog groups for years to address its role in hosting and spreading hateful content, as researchers showed that its algorithm tended to drag users from mainstream videos toward extremist political content through the use of its autoplay feature and recommendation system.

YouTube said its new policy would aim to “prevent our platform from being used to incite hatred, harassment, discrimination and violence.”

YouTube will also begin to change the videos it recommends alongside "borderline content" that does not violate the company's policies.

"In January, we piloted an update of our systems in the U.S. to limit recommendations of borderline content and harmful misinformation, such as videos promoting a phony miracle cure for a serious illness, or claiming the earth is flat," the company wrote. "We’re looking to bring this updated system to more countries by the end of 2019."

YouTube will also include videos from "authoritative sources" alongside borderline videos.

The video-sharing platform has been criticized by researchers who argued that the company wasn’t simply hosting the videos but also leading users down “rabbit holes” toward increasingly violent and extreme viewpoints while shutting out dissent.

Jonas Kaiser, an assistant researcher at Harvard University, and Adrian Rauchfleisch, an assistant professor at the National Taiwan University, outlined the phenomenon last year in a research paper titled “Unite the Right? How YouTube’s Recommendation Algorithm Connects The U.S. Far-Right.”

“In much the same way that the ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, where a white supremacist injured many and killed Heather Heyer by driving a car into a crowd of counterprotesters, sought to bring together many far-right influencers, so too does YouTube’s recommendation algorithm bring together far-right channels,” Kaiser and Rauchfleisch wrote.

YouTube said it would also work to hone its algorithm to stop directing users toward silos of extremist content.

“If a user is watching a video that comes close to violating our policies, our systems may include more videos from authoritative sources (like top news channels) in the ‘watch next’ panel,” Shadloo wrote.

YouTube also said it will strengthen its enforcement of its rules around which channels can monetize their videos.

"Channels that repeatedly brush up against our hate speech policies will be suspended from the YouTube Partner program, meaning they can’t run ads on their channel or use other monetization features like Super Chat," YouTube wrote.

YouTube’s changes add to similar moves by other platforms that have begun to rewrite policies around hate speech. In March, Facebook announced a ban on “praise, support and representation of white nationalism and white separatism on Facebook and Instagram.”

Twitter does not have a similar policy against white nationalism, but it does ban targeted harassment based on race.

YouTube’s announcement comes just hours after the company said that it would not take action against far-right YouTube personality Steven Crowder, who has published numerous videos targeting Vox reporter Carlos Maza with anti-gay and anti-Mexican slurs over several years.

Despite rules on the service that prohibit “racial, ethnic, religious, or other slurs where the primary purpose is to promote hatred” and “stereotypes that incite or promote hatred,” YouTube declined to take action on the videos created by Crowder, whose videos have received more than 833 million total views on YouTube.

“Our teams spent the last few days conducting an in-depth review of the videos flagged to us, and while we found language that was clearly hurtful, the videos as posted don’t violate our policies,” a YouTube spokesperson tweeted to Maza on Tuesday night.

Shortly after Wednesday's initial announcement, YouTube tweeted that it had suspended monetization on Crowder's channel.

Becca Lewis, a researcher at Data & Society, a nonprofit based in New York, and author of Alternative Influence: Broadcasting the Reactionary Right on YouTube about networks of far-right influencers on YouTube, called the move “a step in the right direction” toward eliminating hate speech on the platform but was ultimately skeptical.

“It remains to be seen exactly how it will be enforced. And it's particularly strange to see this coming out right after such a public case of them interpreting their policies in favor of keeping harassment up on their platform,” Lewis said.

Both Lewis and Megan Squire, an Elon University computer science professor who studies the far right, said they see the new policies are an acknowledgement of years of academic research that showed ties between YouTube’s algorithm and domestic extremism.

“This ban is certainly an admission that they have had and continue to have extremist and hateful content on their platform,” Squire said. </s> YouTube said Wednesday that it is launching a new campaign to rid its site of extremist political and personal videos, such as those promoting white supremacy and neo-Nazism, as the video publishing platform seeks to crack down on hate speech.

YouTube, which is owned by Google, laid out the guidelines of its latest crackdown in a company blog post. No specific video producers or channels were named, but YouTube said that “videos that promote or glorify Nazi ideology” would be targeted under the new policies.

“(We are) specifically prohibiting videos alleging that a group is superior in order to justify discrimination, segregation or exclusion based on qualities like age, gender, race, caste, religion, sexual orientation or veteran status,” YouTube said in announcing its latest effort to police content on its site. The company added that it would also begin removing videos that deny that violent events like the Holocaust and the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

YouTube said it would begin enforcing the new video policies on Wednesday, but the size of the issue means that “it will take time for our systems to fully ramp up and we’ll be gradually expanding coverage over the next several months.”
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• An effort to make dam electricity count as renewable energy just failed The size of YouTube speaks to the scale of the task at hand for the company. Approximately 1.3 billion people around the globe use YouTube, and more than 5 billion videos are watched on the site each day. It’s also estimated that 300 to 500 new videos are uploaded onto YouTube every minute.

YouTube’s latest move against hate speech comes one day after the company determined that videos posted by conservative YouTuber Steven Crowder, in which he used racial and homophobic language to described Vox writer Carlos Maza, didn’t violate YouTube’s policy usage terms. A report this week from the New York Times also described the proliferation of home videos that include images of children in swimsuits as a “buffet” for pedophiles.
YouTube, in a move to boost transparency and combat propaganda, announces that it will start to label videos by broadcasters that receive state-funding.