On Friday, Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOGL.O) YouTube stopped eliminating content that may have disseminated misleading claims about 2020 and prior U.S. presidential elections.
YouTube’s elections misinformation policy updates take effect immediately.
“In the current environment, we find that while removing this content does curb some misinformation, it could also have the unintended effect of curtailing political speech,” YouTube wrote in a blog post.
The platform’s other hate speech, harassment, and incitement to violence policies would apply to all user content, including elections.
Disinformation has sparked worries about how social media platforms police election misinformation. Twitter and Meta Platforms Inc.’s (META.O) Facebook have also witnessed election disinformation rise.