YouTube is going to begin labelling state-funded news broadcasts

YouTube state-funded broadcaster noticeWith an eye on fighting propaganda and fake news, YouTube has begun highlighting which news broadcasters receive funding from the state.

Under plans to be more transparent in 2018, videos uploaded by news broadcasters that receive some level of government or public funding will be labelled with a notice below them to let users know this is the case. For now, the feature is only being rolled out in the US.

The notice, which appears below the video but above the video’s title, will also include a link to the news broadcaster’s Wikipedia page – so users can learn more about the where the video is coming from.

YouTube acknowledges that this feature may not always work entirely accurately at the beginning, and is asking users and publishers to provide feedback through a ‘send feedback’ form.

“Our goal is to equip users with additional information to help them better understand the sources of news content that they choose to watch on YouTube,” said Geoff Samek, senior product manager for YouTube News, in a blog post. “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.

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