YouTube Backtracks, Allows Misinformation Videos About 2020 Election To Exist

[RAMROD 117,260]

YouTube will stop removing content that falsely claims the 2020 election or other past U.S. presidential elections were marred by “widespread fraud, errors or glitches,” the platform announced Friday.

The change is a reversal for the Google-owned video service, which said a month after the 2020 election that it would start removing new posts that falsely claimed widespread voter fraud or errors changed the outcome.

YouTube said in a blog post that the updated policy was an attempt to protect the ability to “openly debate political ideas, even those that are controversial or based on disproven assumptions.”

 

The updated policy, which goes into effect immediately, won’t stop YouTube from taking down content that tries to deceive voters in the upcoming 2024 election, or other future races in the U.S. and abroad. The company said its other existing rules against election misinformation remain unchanged.

 

https://apnews.com/article/youtube-election-misinformation-policy-42a6c1b7623c485dbc04eb76ad443247

 

 

[REALITY 80,176]

I don't know how anyone over there at YouTube could think that the sentence “openly debate political ideas, even those that are controversial or based on disproven assumptions" isn't completely wild and ridiculous. 

[Lextyr97 20,819]

I feel like Heidi right now, except the werkroom is Earth. 

[jacs vs looser 5,125]

To allow content "based on disproven assumptions"... Is so distopyian, it's actually scary. 

[besus 132]

Oof (!?), turns out late-stage capitalism is a nightmare. When intuition and morality somehow become not germane to policy, bad things happen. Who knew or could ever have known. Honestly!?!

[badfaith 5,716]

Now why did Neal Youtube do this? where is Susan?? 

[windzo 811]

Just when election season is starting how convenient 

[Red 99,192]

The audacity of that press release

[Controversiaga 16,392]

Very disappointed 

[27monster27 15,917]

Not surprised that a corporation that has allowed multiple predators to have platforms would do this.

[Emvee 8,845]

Are they subscribing to the idea that misinformation is a legitimate political tactic? 
 

Get ready, people are gonna start saying some wild ****. Qanon levels of conspiracy theories will flourish. Attacks on the LGBT community are gonna sky rocket too. The algorithm does not care about the safety of people that the right-wing wants to scapegoat. 

[PartySick 172,975]

Free speech absolutism just enables the most dangerous among us

When you treat facts and fantasy as equals, it only benefits the latter.