Misinformation about COVID-19 is allowing the coronavirus to ‘thrive,’ a WHO official said.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought many challenges to the world. These include false claims and misleading information, which experts now deem as a “risk factor.”
Misinformation is extremely apparent these days amid the COVID-19 crisis. As the public gains more access to social media platforms, the spread of conspiracy theories and inaccurate claims becomes nearly effortless. This is why many officials and experts across the globe remain committed to eradicating misinformation with the help of tech giants.
On Wednesday, YouTube published a post on its official blog, detailing how they tackle the issue amid the global crisis. As revealed, they have already taken down over one million videos, according to Engadget via Tech Crunch.
YouTube has removed over 1 million videos
Writing for the blog, Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan noted that YouTube has taken down the videos for “dangerous” coronavirus content since February 2020. This comes as “misinformation has moved from the marginal to the mainstream,” he explained. It now also stretches into “every fact of society, sometimes tearing through communities with blistering speed.”
The executive emphasized, however, that the “bad content” accounts for only a small percentage of the platform’s overall postings. Mohan stated that about only .16 to .18 percent of total views turn out to be content that violates YouTube’s policies. Moreover, the site reportedly takes down nearly 10 million videos per quarter, and the “majority of which do not even reach ten views.”
Removal is only an aspect of the approach
Reports said that, like Facebook, YouTube has also come under scrutiny for its policies surrounding health misinformation amid the coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, both social media platforms have over a billion users.
Accordingly, even a small fraction of content can still have a significant impact. But, despite this, YouTube and Facebook have reportedly declined to share the details of how misinformation spreads across their respective platforms. The same also applies to the number of users encountering such engagement.
Neal Mohan disclosed, however, that the removal of misinformation across YouTube is only one aspect of their approach. He said that they are also working “ratcheting up information” from verified and trusted sources. In addition, they are “reducing the spread of videos with harmful misinformation.”
Misinformation amid coronavirus pandemic
YouTube’s official post comes after the World Health Organization talked about COVID-19 misinformation on Tuesday. The agency’s technical lead said that the amount of false claims and information “seems to be getting worse,” according to CNBC.
Maria Van Kerkhove emphasized, as well, that it has become a “risk factor,” driving the coronavirus pandemic to thrive. She added that misinformation, specifically on vaccines, keeps people from getting the jabs. This then causes an increase in COVID-19 cases across the globe.
Images courtesy of CBC News/YouTube