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Title: YouTube Will 'Protect Free Expression' By Pulling Back On Content
Moderation

Link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/06/09/18392...

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: YouTube videos may be
getting a bit more pernicious soon. Google's dominant video platform has
spent years removing discriminatory and conspiracy content from its platform
in accordance with its usage guidelines, but the site is now reportedly
adopting a lighter-touch approach to moderation. A higher bar for content
removal will allow more potentially inflammatory content to remain up in the
"public interest." [...] Beginning late last year, YouTube began informing
moderators they should err on the side of caution when removing videos that
are in the public interest. That includes user uploads that discuss issues
like elections, race, gender, sexuality, abortion, immigration, and
censorship. Previously, YouTube's policy told moderators to remove videos if
one-quarter or more of the content violated policies. Now, the exception
cutoff has been increased to half. In addition, staff are now told to bring
issues to managers if they are uncertain rather than removing the content
themselves. "Recognizing that the definition of 'public interest' is always
evolving, we update our guidance for these exceptions to reflect the new
types of discussion we see on the platform today," YouTube's Nicole Bell told
the New York Times. "Our goal remains the same: to protect free expression on
YouTube while mitigating egregious harm." Most of the videos hosted on
YouTube won't be affected by this change, the company says. "These exceptions
apply to a small fraction of the videos on YouTube, but are vital for
ensuring important content remains available," a YouTube spokesperson tells
Ars. "This practice allows us to prevent, for example, an hours-long news
podcast from being removed for showing one short clip of violence."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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