YouTube Removes Restrictions on US Election Misinformation
On Friday, YouTube announced that it will no longer delete content that makes false claims about the 2020 US presidential election being affected by “fraud, errors or glitches.” This move has been swiftly condemned by those who oppose the spread of misinformation.
The announcement by the Google-owned video site is a marked departure from its policy, which began in December 2020, to try to curb false claims — most importantly, pushed 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 unfounded assumptions, is essential to a functioning democratic society — especially in the midst of election seasons,” YouTube said in a blog post.
“We will stop removing content that makes false claims about widespread fraud, errors, or loopholes in the 2020 and other past US presidential elections.”
YouTube’s updated policy, effective immediately, comes as tech platforms grapple with a key issue in America’s hyper-polarized political environment: How to combat disinformation without curtailing free speech?
YouTube appears to acknowledge that misinformation by the police has its downside.
“Two years, tens of thousands of video removals and one election cycle later, we knew it was time to reevaluate the impact of this policy in today’s changing landscape,” the video-sharing giant said.
“In the current environment, we’ve found that while removing such content reduces some misinformation, it can also have the unintended effect of reducing political debate without appreciably reducing the risk of violence or other actual harm.”
But that response drew sharp criticism from US interest groups.
“YouTube is dead wrong in its claim that removing false election content will limit political speech without measurably reducing real harm,” said Nora Benavidez of the nonpartisan group Free Press.
And its dangerous decision to immediately stop removing content…which continues to sow hatred and misinformation that threatens our democracy must be reversed immediately. “
YouTube has insisted that its other existing anti-election disinformation rules have not changed, including banning content that deceives voters or incites people to interfere with democratic processes.
“YouTube was one of the last major social media platforms to maintain a policy to try to curb misinformation about the 2020 election,” said Julie Millikan, vice president of the left-leaning watchdog group Media Matters.
“It has now been decided to take the easy way out by giving people like Donald Trump and his supporters the freedom to continue lying without consequence in the 2020 election.”
