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In 2022, YouTube announced its commitment to collaborate with European fact-checking organizations and integrate their work into the platform to benefit its users. This measure was a key pillar of its participation in the European Code of Practice on Disinformation. Three years and little progress later, YouTube has announced its withdrawal from this agreement.
This decision comes just as the Code of Practice becomes a binding code of conduct under the Digital Services Act (DSA), meaning that previously voluntary measures now gain legal significance. Instead of strengthening its collaboration with fact-checkers, Axios reports that Kent Walker, Google’s President of Global Affairs, informed the European Commission that these actions are considered "simply (not) appropriate or effective” for its services. Fact-checkers are tasked with providing evidence and context, so here are a few examples from Europe of videos where it would be highly appropriate for YouTube users to see a warning with verified information.
Harmful misinformation unchecked in European countries
"Cure cancer with beet juice": This video, which has been viewed more than 1.5 million times, contains claims encouraging cancer patients to avoid medical treatments and instead rely on a recipe that supposedly “cured more than 50,000 people”. Maldita.es has explained that there is no evidence that any combination of foods can have these effects.
"Von der Leyen resigns!": A channel with over 220 million total views falsely announces the resignation of the President of the European Commission. German fact-checkers such as CORRECTIV and DPA have highlighted the clickbait tactics used to drive views and monetize through ads.
"China ready to fight alongside Russia": Alarmist warnings about an alleged war involving China appear on a channel with more than 140,000 subscribers. The videos use old, out-of-context footage to support their claims, as explained by the Greek fact-checker Ellinika Hoaxes.
"Public energy company?": A channel with only 76 subscribers and nearly 400,000 views on one video pretends to be a public company to steal credit card details, according to Polish fact-checker Demagog.pl.
These are just a few examples of videos that often violate the platform’s own rules and are currently available without any warnings about their falsehoods and dangers. Some have been on the platform for seven years, accumulating over a million views, while others are hosted on channels with large subscriber bases that have consistently published disinformation for over a decade.
We believe it is more than appropriate for each of these videos (and many others) to be accompanied by a warning from independent fact-checkers, presenting evidence that could be useful to viewers—ranging from warnings against dangerous medical advice to alerts about scams.
However, YouTube is avoiding such simple initiatives that would improve the quality of content on the platform, defying its obligations under the EU Digital Services Act.
For more details, here is the link to our full report.