This year's presidential election has already proved to be a considerable test of the US democratic system. It also did a great job testing the systems behind major social networks four years after a pretty misinformed election. Twitter today proved reasonably quick, if not entirely proactive, in its attempt to label problematic information.
Video, which is largely considered to be more difficult to monitor, was another story on many of these sites. In question are videos like One American News Network's (OAN) "Trump Won". Released this morning, the report echoes the president's earlier sentiment that he has both won the elections and that the states and / or the Democratic Party are attempting to "steal the election." At the time of this writing, the election has not been resolutely decided.
Youtube The Google parent had previously outlined potential breaches before the election, noting that it would:
Remove[e] content that contains compromised information, the disclosure of which could interfere with democratic processes, such as elections and censuses. For example, videos that contain compromised information about a political candidate shared with the intent of interfering in an election. Removal of content that encourages others to interfere with democratic processes, such as obstructing or disrupting voting procedures. For example, telling viewers to create long voting lines in order to make voting more difficult for others.
After the disclosure, the company told the press that the video does not violate community guidelines, but added that it pulled the ads from the content.
"Our Community Guidelines prohibit content that misleads viewers about voting, such as content that aims to mislead voters about the time, place, means or eligibility requirements for voting, or false claims that could materially discourage voting, "a spokesperson told ProWellTech. "The content in this video does not reach that level. All search results and videos about this election, including this video, are displayed in an information panel that notes that the election results may not be final and that we continue to feature authoritative content. in search results and recommendations. Additionally, we remove ads from videos that contain content that is demonstrably false about election results, like this video. We will continue to be vigilant in the post-election period. "
The video now also displays a "US Elections" form below that notes: "Results may not be final. Check out the latest on Google." direct users to a search page. In a separate post, he notes that "aim[s] to bring out expert videos, such as public health institutions, in search results, "meaning a video like the one referenced above would theoretically be depreciated in search by more respected outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Jovem Pan, India Today and The Guardian.
The coming weeks and months will undoubtedly provide ample opportunities to evaluate these responses from these platforms and whether their responses have ultimately done enough to address disinformation and disinformation during a particularly uncertain period in U.S. election history.
