YouTube takes down fake election result videos

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Published Nov 4, 2020

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YouTube has removed multiple videos live streaming fake election results.

The video platform - which is owned by Google - has taken down a number of videos which aired false results hours before polls had closed anywhere in the United States.

The links were viewed by thousands of people before being deleted, and some ran adverts which means the creators could make money off the content.

In a statement, a YouTube spokesman said: "After careful review, we are removing livestreams that violate our Community Guidelines.

"We have established policies prohibiting spam, deceptive practices & scams, and we continue to be vigilant with regards to election-related content in the lead-up and post-election period."

Although YouTube had prioritised videos from mainstream news networks, some of them came from channels focused on music.

The site has responded to a screenshot of the streams, and confirmed its team has "removed" them.

TeamYouTube tweeted: "Hopefully you saw that these live streams were removed.

"Our policies don’t allow spam, scams, or deceptive practices on YouTube – we’re keeping a close eye on content related to the election & will continue to remove content that violates these policies.

"Thanks for raising to us."

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