In its continuing efforts to fight fake news and conspiracy theories on the platform, YouTube on Monday said it will make “authoritative” news sources more prominent, especially in the aftermath of breaking news events, such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters, major accidents and other situations where misinformation can spread quickly.
The company committed $25 million as part of the $300 million Google News Initiative launched by its parent company in March. The fund is expected to help the company support journalism and fight the growing problem of fake news by taking the steps necessary to ensure the authenticity of news available online.
I think for any news to be termed as credible, authoritativeness is essential and for the same reason thats, why YouTube is investing in new product features to give priority authoritative sources.
This YouTube investment will help the company in establishing an “expert working group with news organizations and experts” from around the world to help it improve the news experience on YouTube.
With breaking news being particularly vulnerable to conspiracy theories and misinformation campaigns, YouTube says it will show previews and links to news articles from reputable sources in its search results in an attempt to provide more context to any particular event.
YouTube will also remind viewers that facts and details can change in developing stories as new information becomes available.
As part of its efforts to dismiss factually-inaccurate information from its platform, YouTube also says that it has started including relevant information from Wikipedia and Encyclopaedia Britannica with videos about “well-established historical and scientific topics that have often been subject to misinformation, like the moon landing”.
