Lok Sabha 2024: YouTube doubles down on steps to curb election-related misleading info on its platform

In March, Google-owned YouTube promised to take steps to tackle the menace of misinformation and deepfakes.

With less than two weeks left before the general elections in India, YouTube on Monday (April 9) showcased how it is offering genuine information and also how it is curbing the spread of fake news on its platform.

YouTube is collaborating with the Election Commission of India (ECI) to offer authoritative information on election-related information.

When citizens look for 'how to register to vote' and 'how to vote', YouTube will display and point viewers to videos created by ECI and other government-run agencies.

There is also a misinformation campaign on electronic voting machines (EVM) and for this, YouTube will offer direct links to the official EVM FAQ page created by ECI to clear doubts among voters.

Also, for more information about general elections, YouTube will guide users to reliable third-party resources in addition to the ECI channel.

"We’re partnering with independent, non-partisan organizations, like Encyclopedia Britannica across our information panels," Ishan John Chatterjee, Director, India at YouTube told DH during the virtual media interaction.

Google will offer direct links to ECI for all search related to general elections on YouTube.

For all forms of video including election-related content, creators have mandatorily label their videos whether they are real or synthetic. If they have any form of AI-generated photorealistic objects and characters, the video will come with an AI-generated content label displayed prominently at the top.

"For most videos, a label will appear in the expanded description, but for videos that touch on more sensitive topics — like health, news, elections, or finance — we’ll also show a more prominent label on the video itself," Chatterjee said.

Also, Google is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) for early detection and elimination of fake news and videos on YouTube.

In the last quarter of 2023 (October-December), it took down more than nine million content on YouTube globally. In India, it removed around 2.25 million videos.

It should be noted that more than 90 per cent of the content was flagged by Google's automated system.

In the coming days, YouTube said it will make full use of the latest technology to weed out election-related misinformation that may mislead voters about the time, place, means, or eligibility requirements for voting and discourage them from voting in India.

The Lok Sabha parliamentary election will be conducted in seven phases. It is scheduled to kick off on April 19 and conclude on June 1.

And, on June 4, ECI officials will count votes and announce results on the same day.

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