INTERNATIONAL - YouTube announced that they will be adding information from Wikipedia to videos about popular conspiracy theories to provide alternative viewpoints on controversial subjects.
The way the company will adding the information is known as "information cues" or text boxes.
New from @YouTube- CEO Susan Wojciki announces a feature to fight conspiracy theories w/ related links to news, Wikipedia #sxsw pic.twitter.com/sLtjdQNqbu
— Maureen Fitzgerald (@movandy) March 13, 2018
. @SusanWojcicki emphasizes quality and credibility. Announces YouTube will add information cues from authoritative sources around video content to combat fake news. #SXSW pic.twitter.com/AdEmpFBBi7
— Meredith Gruen (@MeredithGruen) March 13, 2018
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, who spoke on Tuesday on a panel at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin said the “information cues,” will appear as text boxes, would begin appearing on conspiracy-related videos within the next couple of weeks.
“When there are videos that are focused around something that’s a conspiracy — and we’re using a list of well-known internet conspiracies from Wikipedia — then we will show a companion unit of information from Wikipedia showing that here is information about the event,” Wojcicki said.
The move comes after a year in which YouTube has been pilloried for hosting extremist content and driving more attention to it through algorithmic recommendations, that critics say are designed to push viewers to extremes.
Wojcicki did not specify how many conspiracies were on the company’s initial list, but suggested it would expand over time.
“What I like about this unit is that it’s actually pretty extensible,” she said.
The company could show additional alternate sources of information under controversial elements in the future, she said.