YouTube is rolling out a range of informational elements in the lead-up to the U.S. election, including links to official information on how to vote, highlights from authoritative news sources, added transparency on candidate accounts, AI tags, and more.
First off, YouTube will add new how to vote reminders on the YouTube home page, as well as on searches related to the election. It’s also rolling out supplementary information panels on searches related to candidates.
“If a viewer searches for something related to a 2024 federal election candidate, an information panel will appear above the search results that highlights the candidate’s information. This could include their political party, a link to their official channel, and a click-through to Google Search to learn more.”
That will help to ensure users are able to clarify the information presented, while also providing more insight into each candidate in-stream.
YouTube will also include vote count information after the conclusion of the vote on Election Day, with links to Google’s election results feature, which will track poll data in real time.
YouTube will also look to highlight content from “authoritative news channels” during major election events, while there’ll also be a dedicated “shelf”, presented in both English and Spanish, of live streams from authoritative news channels on the homepage on election day.
YouTube also highlights its AI tags as another key election integrity measure, providing insight on content where synthetic media is detected, while it will also remove AI content if it violates its Community Guidelines.
“These labeling efforts have been in effect for elections worldwide this year; for example, ahead of the European Parliamentary election in June, the altered or synthetic label was displayed more than 40 million times on videos across the EU.”
YouTube’s also working with Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) to combat misinformation efforts on the platform, and stop foreign interference in the election.
“This includes government-backed hacking designed to interfere with the 2024 election. Through TAG, we also work with other technology companies to share intelligence and best practices, and share threat information with law enforcement.”
The U.S. election is now only 14 days away, and after a divisive campaign, it looks set to once again be a controversial and combative election period. As such, these measures will be even more important, and the guidance provided by YouTube should help to keep more people informed.
You can read more about YouTube’s election integrity measures here.
