The Press Stories
Fake news is defined as false information, often sensational, disseminated through various communication channels to manipulate and deceive public opinion. This information is disseminated to support or disparage an opinion or tarnish the reputation of a personality or contradict scientific fact. It’s with this in mind that the titan of video sharing continues its campaign against misinformation, this time around a new hot topic: cancer.
The streaming giant, which has long been criticized for its lack of control over its platform and the excesses it can cause, has decided to establish a firm policy against the proliferation of misinformation on the web. The start was sparked in August 2021 when YouTube banned misinformation about Covid-19, removing more than a million videos containing dangerous statements about the virus. The platform is full of crowd-sourced videos that explain every health topic.
Professors, medical experts or popularizers express themselves freely in video. This October 4, it announces new functions to better promote official sources. YouTube partners with government or public welfare organizations, public assistance, university hospitals, universities or accredited health organizations to identify reliable sources. These metrics come in the form of news panels that display content from trusted sources to control what information spreads on a news topic.
It may also include information about cancer types, heart health care, and introductions to rare diseases. “We’re excited to introduce our health-related features (…) to allow Internet users access to quality information,” explains Dr. Garth Graham in a blog post published by Google.
“We know there’s still a lot of work to be done, which is why our efforts are part of the long term.” The most important thing is to increase the number of quality videos and limit the sharing of unreliable ones.
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