YouTube’s pledge to remove dangerous health “advice” has not convinced disinformation experts who decry the lack of transparency.

One video on YouTube claims garlic cures cancer, and another claims vitamin C can replace radiation therapy. Faced with the spread of medical misinformation after the “Covid-19” crisis, the site (which is owned by Google) began in 2022 to hunt down anti-vaccination content and then content promoting eating disorders.

A year later, YouTube confirmed its intention to go even further by going after cancer misinformation, saying that those diagnosed “are a group who frequently surf the Internet to learn and feel (own) about the symptoms and treatment options of the disease.”

The site warned that a netizen who posts false health information will have his clip removed and his channel or account banned after three attempts, which can be appealed on the site.

Long term plan

Laurent Cordonier, a sociologist at the French Descartes Foundation who specializes in information-related issues, told Agence France-Presse that YouTube was “only complying with its obligations!” He said that. Although the site confirms that its plan is long-term. He noted that the European Digital Services Act came into effect on August 25, requiring major digital platforms to take action against misinformation and illegal content. He doubted the effectiveness of the announced measures, asserting that “disseminators of misleading health information in French are strong on YouTube”. Desert dwellers dismiss the need to hydrate during a heat wave under the pretense that they drink very little fluid.

For her part, journalist Angie Hollen, head of the International Fact-Checking Network, part of Agence France-Presse, said, “With so much content on YouTube, it’s very difficult to determine whether the quality of information is improving or improving. No.”

Lack of efficiency and transparency

Every minute, the site receives more than 500 hours of new material, and detecting misinformation represents a “huge technical challenge,” according to YouTube, especially since older videos must also be scrutinized under the new rules.

Between last January and April, the site confirmed that more than 8.7 million video clips were deleted, more than 90% of which were tracked by artificial intelligence. Spanish journalist Carlos Hernández Echeverría of fact-checking firm Maldetta said: “Automated methods fail miserably, especially when the video is not in English.” Echevarria wrote an open letter to YouTube on this topic in January 2022. He also criticized the “censorship” practiced by YouTube by removing videos “without internet users knowing why a particular piece of information is false”. … restrict the dissemination of problematic content or add context to such content.

Journalist Angie Hollan exposed a “lack of transparency” in setting the site’s standards.

“It’s very difficult to know what YouTube is doing,” said Hallon, whose network has received money from Google to fight disinformation, along with other fact-checking organizations, including Agence France-Presse.

YouTube has created new tools to highlight content published by health authorities and hospitals.

• YouTube has developed new tools to highlight content published by health authorities and hospitals.

• 8.7 million clips were deleted by the site between last January and April.

Conspiracy theories

Clément Pasteur of the Lextractor Group expressed his discomfort that “we have entrusted a private company with the task of deciding what to say, what not to say, and who to trust on such complex topics.” He fears that YouTube’s policy, which is “undoubtedly useful in the short term” will foster conspiracy theories that will find “other platforms to express themselves” in the long run.