YouTube Plans New Steps to Fight Terrorism Content on Their Platform

Google recently announced new plans to fight the spread of terrorism-related content on the YouTube Platform.

CNET reports that YouTube has stepped up their fight against terrorism related content, according to parent company Google who posted a blog outlining the video-streaming website’s new plans. “While we and others have worked for years to identify and remove content that violates our policies, the uncomfortable truth is that we, as an industry, must acknowledge that more needs to be done,” said Google’s General Counsel Kent Walker.

Google and YouTube reportedly plan to use “more engineering resources to apply our most advanced machine learning research to train new ‘content classifiers’ to help us more quickly identify and remove such content.” The company will also expand YouTube’s Trusted Flagger program, which allows 200 groups and individuals access to flagging “superpowers” allowing them to flag up to 20 videos at a time which may violate YouTube’s terms of service. YouTube plans to include 50 non-governmental organizations to the 200 strong list of flaggers already using the program.

YouTube also plans to take a “tougher stance on videos that do not clearly violate our policies — for example, videos that contain inflammatory religious or supremacist content.” These videos will now “appear behind a warning” and will not be “monetized, recommended or eligible for comments or user endorsements.” This is an issue that professional YouTubers have worried about for some time with many YouTubers having their content demonetized for seemingly no reason. While it is admirable that YouTube attempt to take down terrorism-related content, there is fear among the YouTube community that these new measures may be abused by those in power.

YouTube also plans to attempt to target users possibly considering or researching terrorism and redirect them to anti-terrorism content. “We are working with Jigsaw to implement the ‘redirect method‘ more broadly across Europe. This promising approach harnesses the power of targeted online advertising to reach potential ISIS recruits, and redirects them towards anti-terrorist videos that can change their minds about joining.” said a Google spokesperson.

In the blog posted by Google, Walker writes “Collectively, these changes will make a difference. And we will keep working on the problem until we get the balance right. Extremists and terrorists seek to attack and erode not just our security, but also our values; the very things that make our societies open and free. We must not let them.”