YouTube is Slowest major platform It banned misinformation during the 2020 U.S. elections, and nearly three years later, the company plans to retire that policy entirely.
The company said Friday it was rescinding its anti-election rule, allowing some previously prohibited false allegations, effective immediately. Axios I reported the change first.
“In the current environment, removing this content will suppress some misinformation, but it will suppress political discourse without significantly reducing the risk of violence or other real-world harm. It turned out that there could be an unintended effect of this,” the company said in a blog post. director.
“With this in mind, and with the 2024 campaign well underway, we promote false allegations of widespread fraud, error and glitches in the 2020 and other past U.S. presidential elections. Stop deleting content.”
YouTube still does not allow some children to make false election-related claims, such as lying about polling place locations and other specific efforts to discourage people from voting successfully.
“All of our election misinformation policies will continue to apply, including prohibiting content designed to mislead voters about when, where, how, or eligibility to vote. False claims that may significantly discourage voting, including those that advocate content that encourages others to interfere in the democratic process,” the company wrote.
All in all, there is certainly an argument that denying a valid presidential election outcome would ultimately deter people from voting more than these more targeted hypothetical scenarios. But allowing users to sow widespread mistrust of democratic processes doesn’t seem to fit the company’s definition of “real-world harm.”
Even if enforcement was difficult, it would be a strange choice to announce on YouTube that it’s open season for US election vetoes, especially now that the 2024 election is gearing up. The company plans to provide further updates on its 2024 election strategy in the coming months, so hopefully YouTube will elaborate on its thinking and other planned precautions at that time.
