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World’s largest video-sharing website Youtube has committed Ksh2.5 billion ($25 million) in a bid to fight fake news and conspiracy theories on the platform.
This is part of the Ksh30 billion ($300 million) Google News Initiative launched by its parent company in March.
The fund is expected to help the company support journalism and fight the growing problem of fake news by taking the steps necessary to ensure the authenticity of news available online.
YouTube says that it will make “authoritative” news sources more prominent, especially in the aftermath of breaking news events, such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters, major accidents and other situations where misinformation can spread quickly.
Read: Spreading Fake News And Cyber Bullying To Attract Jail Term
The investment will help the company in establishing an expert working group with news organizations and experts from around the world to help it improve the news experience on YouTube.
With breaking news being particularly vulnerable to conspiracy theories and misinformation campaigns, YouTube says it will show previews and links to news articles from reputable sources in its search results in an attempt to provide more context to any particular event.
YouTube will also remind viewers that facts and details can change in developing stories as new information becomes available.
As part of its efforts to dismiss factually-inaccurate information from its platform, YouTube also says that it has started including relevant information from Wikipedia and Encyclopaedia Britannica with videos about “well-established historical and scientific topics that have often been subject to misinformation, like the moon landing”.
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