Tag: 2020
One of our most anticipated games since 2020 is about to enter early access
YouTube is still battling 2020 election misinformation as it prepares for the midterms
YouTube and Google are the latest platforms to share more about how they are preparing for the upcoming midterm elections, and the flood of misinformation that will come with it.
For YouTube, much of that strategy hinges on continuing to counter misinformation about the 2020 presidential election. The company’s election misinformation policies already prohibit videos that allege “widespread fraud, errors, or glitches” occurred in any previous presidential election. In a new blog post about its preparations for the midterms, the company says it’s already removed “a number of videos related to the midterms” for breaking these rules, and that other channels have been temporarily suspended for videos related to the upcoming midterms.
The update comes as YouTube continues to face scrutiny for its handling of the 2020 election, and whether its recommendations pushed some people toward election fraud videos. (Of note, the Journal of Online Trust and Safety published a study on the topic today.)
In addition to taking down videos, YouTube also says it will launch “an educational media literacy campaign” aimed at educating viewers about “manipulation tactics used to spread misinformation.” The campaign will launch in the United States first, and will cover topics like “using emotional language” and “cherry picking information,” according to the company.
And Both Google and YouTube will promote authoritative election information in their services, including in search results. Before the midterms, YouTube will link to information about how to vote, and on Election day, videos related to the midterms will link to “timely context around election results.” Similarly, Google will surface election results directly in search, which it has done in previous elections as well.
The company is also trying to make it easier to find details about local and regional races. Beginning in “the coming weeks,” Google will highlight local news sources from different states in election-related searches.
Meta’s anti-misinformation strategy for the 2022 midterms is mostly a repeat of 2020
Meta has outlined its strategy for combatting misinformation during the 2022 US midterm elections, and they’ll mostly sound familiar if you remember the company’s 2020 approach. The Facebook and Instagram owner said it will maintain policies and protections “consistent” with the presidential election, including policies barring vote misinformation and linking people to trustworthy information. It will once again ban political ads during the last week of the election campaign. This isn’t quite a carbon copy, however, as Meta is fine-tuning its methods in response to lessons learned two years ago.
To start, Meta is “elevating” post comments from local elections officials to make sure reliable polling information surfaces in conversations. The company is also acknowledging concerns that it used info labels too often in 2020 — for the 2022 midterms, it’s planning to show labels in a “targeted and strategic way.”
Meta’s update comes just days after Twitter detailed its midterm strategy, and echoes the philosophy of its social media rival. Both are betting that their 2020 measures were largely adequate, and that it’s just a question of refining those systems for 2022.
Whether or not that’s true is another matter. In a March 2021 study, advocacy group Avaaz said Meta didn’t do enough to stem the flow of misinformation and allowed billions of views for known false content. Whistleblower Frances Haugen also maintains that Meta has generally struggled to fight bogus claims, and it’s no secret that Meta had to extend its ban on political ads after the 2020 vote. Facebook didn’t catch some false Brazilian election ads, according to Global Witness. Meta won’t necessarily deal with serious problems during the midterms, but it’s not guaranteed a smooth ride.