The new YouTube policy will take effect immediately. Photo: GETTY IMAGES. The U.S. presidential election has been marked by «fraud, errors or glitches,» the platform said on Friday. This decision was quickly criticized by disinformation advocates. his policy, launched in December 2020, was an attempt to curb false claims made by then President Donald Trump that his re-election loss to Joe Biden was due to a «stolen» vote.
“The ability to openly discuss political ideas, even those that are controversial or based on debunked assumptions, is the foundation of a functioning democratic society, especially in the midst of election season,” the YouTube blog post reads.
“We We will stop removing content that makes false claims about massive fraud, errors, or glitches that occurred in the 2020 US presidential election and other past elections.»
New policy effective immediately.
YouTube's post-election disinformation policy in the wake of the 2020 election resulted in the removal of Trump's January 6, 2021 video, which repeatedly made false claims of electoral fraud when protesters were asked to leave the US Capitol.
New Policy YouTube comes at a time when tech platforms are trying to figure out how to fight disinformation without affecting free speech.
YouTube seems to have acknowledged that fighting disinformation has its drawbacks.
“Two years, dozens. thousands of videos removed and one election cycle later, we realized it was time to reassess the implications of this policy in today's changed landscape,” the video-sharing giant said.
“In the current environment, we have found that while removing this content does limit some disinformation, it can also have the unintended effect of reducing political speech without significantly reducing the risk of violence or other harm in the real world.”
But this answer has been heavily criticized by US advocacy groups.
«YouTube is completely wrong in his contention that the removal of false campaign content limits political rhetoric, but does not reduce significant damage to the real world,” said Nora Benavidez of the Free Press impartiality group.
“His dangerous decision to immediately stop taking down content… that continues to sow hatred and misinformation that threatens our democracy must be reversed immediately.”
YouTube insisted that other existing rules against election misinformation remain unchanged, in including a ban on content that misleads voters or incites people to interfere in democratic processes.
“YouTube was one of the last major social networks to pursue a policy to curb disinformation about the 2020 elections— Julie said. Millikan, vice president of the radical left organization Media Matters.
“Now it has been decided to take the easy way out, giving people like Donald Trump and his supporters free rein to continue to lie about the 2020 election without consequences ”.
Earlier this year, YouTube lifted restrictions on Trump’s YouTube channel, which has over 2.7 million subscribers.
Mr. Trump continues to claim, without proof, that he won the 2020 elections.
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