YouTube users in the United States will soon see a new label pinned to videos published by news outlets that receive government funding.
The popular video service said Friday that the new notices are intended to help audiences better understand their sources of news, and they come amid a U.S. government crackdown on a Russian-funded news organization that the U.S. intelligence community has characterized as a propaganda outlet for the Kremlin.
YouTube's decision to flag state-backed media is the latest example of Silicon Valley's struggle to contend with the spread of disinformation across social media, a tactic exploited by foreign operatives during and after the 2016 presidential election. It also highlights the increasing challenges giant communications platforms face as they assume regulatory responsibilities in facilitating and policing the global public square.
“News is an important and growing vertical for us, and we want to be sure to get it right, helping to grow news and support news publishers on YouTube in a responsible way,” Geoff Samek, senior product manager for YouTube News, said in a blog post. “This work follows a series of changes we made throughout 2017 to better surface authoritative news content.”
But PBS, a U.S. public broadcaster, says YouTube's decision is misguided. “Labeling PBS a 'publicly funded broadcaster' is both vague and misleading,” a spokesman told The Washington Post in a statement. “PBS and its member stations receive a small percentage of funding from the federal government; the majority of funding comes from private donations. More importantly, PBS is an independent, private, not-for-profit corporation, not a state broadcaster. YouTube’s proposed labeling could wrongly imply that the government has influence over PBS content, which is prohibited by statute. If YouTube's intent is to create clarity and better understanding, this is a step in the wrong direction.”
PBS added that it continues to discuss the issue with YouTube.
When asked to address the criticism leveled by PBS and to offer further details, Google, YouTube's parent company, referred The Post back to Samek's blog post.
“We’re rolling out this feature to viewers in the U.S. for now, and we don’t expect it to be perfect,” YouTube's Samek wrote. “We plan to improve and expand the feature over time.”
