The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for June 7, 2023
Today’s Script:
(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)
Today’s Links now below the script
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
YouTube announced June 2nd that it will no longer remove disinformation about fraud in the 2020 election. Other social media companies have curtailed monitoring programs and laid off staff. Does this change mean that election disinformation will go unchecked for 2024?
In a statement, Google-owned YouTube said it will no longer remove content which promotes false claims about the 2020 election because, QUOTE, “… that while removing this content does curb some misinformation, it could also have the unintended effect of curtailing political speech without meaningfully reducing the risk of violence or other real-world harm.” UNQUOTE. YouTube has already restored former President Trump’s account as of March 2023.
The video platform claims it will continue to disallow content aiming to mislead voters about the time, place, means, or eligibility requirements for voting, and false claims which could discourage voting and encourage others to interfere with the democratic process.
Despite earlier warnings from Democracy advocates, YouTube didn’t change its election disinformation policy until December 2020, then didn’t aggressively enforce those rules in the 2022 midterms.
Disinformation watchdog Media Matters for America released a statement about the weakened policy, saying, “YouTube and the other platforms . . . . like Facebook, have made it clear that one attempted insurrection wasn’t enough. They’re setting the stage for an encore.”
We have a link to YouTube’s statement and comments from groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
YouTube Blog Post Statement – An update on our approach to US election misinformation
Bloomberg/Yahoo Finance – YouTube to Stop Removing Content Denying 2020 US Election Result
Associated Press – YouTube changes policy to allow false claims about past US presidential elections
Information Techology & Innovation Foundation – How to Address Political Speech on Social Media in the United States
Media Matters For America – YouTube’s reversal of 2020 election integrity policy sets the stage for an encore insurrection
Common Cause – Common Cause Condemns YouTube’s Irresponsible and Dangerous Decision to Allow Election Lies
Media Matters for America – Right-wing media celebrate YouTube’s new policy allowing election misinformation
Groups Taking Action:
Media Matters for America, Common Cause, Center for American Progress
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