While Twitter marks Donald Trump’s tweets as false as well as trying to curb Facebook manipulation, YouTube has been criticized for not immediately removing videos spreading electoral manipulation claims.
Reuters notes that several channels, with 1,000 to more than half a million followers, are distributing videos claiming that fact-checking by Reuters, Associated Press, and others, among others, is false.
This involves fact-checking around the American elections. The results are not yet known, but current President Trump and his supporters have been claiming for days that there are a fraud, manipulation and other malicious practices. However, there is no evidence for that.
YouTube does take action, but it’s about restricting ads when it comes to “claims that are clearly false and undermine participation or confidence in the electoral process.” As a result, uploaders cannot earn money there.
According to Reuters, Google is currently investigating nine channels. But the line is sometimes thin. Anyone who says that electoral fraud is widespread or that postal voting is unreliable is committing an offence.
Anyone who says they have encountered voter fraud themselves, or generally claims that party X or Y is trying to steal (falsely land) the election, is not violating YouTube’s rules.
The video site is also criticized for not removing videos from the far-right channel One America News, among other things. It has sounded there for several days that Democrats would throw out Republican votes. Yesterday followed new allegations that the elections are being stolen by the Democratic party.
YouTube does prevent the videos from making money, and also adds that the voting results in the US are not yet final. But the video will remain online in the meantime.
