YouTube has already removed 1 million videos containing false information about COVID-19

Social media platforms are under fire because misinformation about the coronavirus and/or coronavirus vaccines can spread as quickly as the virus itself. Yesterday we wrote about a study that had a few good words to say about fact-checking tags on Twitter. YouTube can’t escape the storm of misinformation, either. Google’s video platform is a popular way to spread the wildest conspiracy theories due to its huge user base. via Blog post Product Manager Neil Mohan wants to convince us that YouTube is doing everything it can to prevent manipulative content.

According to official figures, YouTube has removed 1 million videos since the start of the global coronavirus pandemic for trying to spread misinformation about the virus. That’s double since the company’s last update in January. A million tracks is a lot, but YouTube has to pull an average of 10 million videos from the platform every quarter. Mohan wrote that in most cases, these are videos with less than 10 views. So YouTube is often quick to limit the spread.

“Deleting videos is not a solution to misinformation”

Google’s product manager takes a philosophical tour of his blog. He asserts that fighting misinformation involves more than just editing videos. “Quick action is certainly important, but we shouldn’t focus on removing content. We think it is precisely the way we retain content on YouTube that gives us the best way forward. The best we can do is make sure there is more good content than bad content.”

In other words, Mohan disagrees with criticisms that social media companies are too lenient about the content users share. “Is it up to technology companies to decide what is right and wrong when there is no absolute certainty? I am deeply convinced that this is not our job.” A position that Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly repeated to refute criticism of his policy.