YouTube combats US election interference with Notes feature

Video sharing platform takes inspiration from X's community-based strategy

Life

YouTube is taking a leaf from X’s attempt to combat fake news by using a version of the social network’s Notes feature under videos.

Notes allows users to add context and information with content, sometimes debunking entirely claims or partisan material. These Notes should try to stop fake news as much as possible in the run-up to the US presidential election.

Initially, Notes will only be available in the US on mobile devices set in English.

At first, only a limited number of users with a history of posting reliable and accurate videos will be able to add Notes.

YouTube acknowledged that incorrect Notes are likely to appear during this testing phase has has encouraged users to pass on feedback.

What do Notes serve about? According to Alphabet/Google, YouTube’s parent company, Notes can be used to indicate to a song that it is satire.

The feature can also be used to point out that footage is older than a video lets on. For example, old footage is sometimes incorrectly presented on YouTube as a current event.

During the current pilot project, Notes are provided and rated by a limited group specifically selected for that purpose, later it will become something for the entire community.

In the trial users will then be able to pass Notes under videos; indicate whether they are “useful,” “somewhat useful” or “not useful and in doing so, they must also indicate why they think so. An algorithm then evaluates all these Notes and the comments on them to decide which ones will actually be published under videos. Thus, if many people rate a particular note as “useful,” it will be seen by everyone.

It is no coincidence that YouTube is introducing Notes in the run up to the 2024 US presidential election in November. Research after 2020’s election showed that disinformation was a big problem. Fake news stories and misinformation would have influenced many voters back then. With the rise of AI, that is expected to be an even bigger problem. It will be an interesting comparison to see how X’s similar feature will deal with the same problem.

Read More: eections misinformation YouTube