Factchecking organisations have called YouTube a major source of online disinformation and urged the Google-owned company to improve moderation on the platform.

In an open letter signed by a host of organisations, the video sharing platform was described as a “conduit” for misinformation and fake news.

In particular, the letter claims YouTube has failed to implement clear-cut policies aimed at addressing the problem.

The coalition of groups also criticised the company for continuing to host content published by channels known to spread Covid-related misinformation or conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 US presidential election results.

“As an international network of fact-checking organisations, we monitor how lies spread online – and every day, we see that YouTube is one of the major conduits of online disinformation and misinformation worldwide,” the letter reads.

“YouTube is allowing its platform to be weaponised by unscrupulous actors to manipulate and exploit others, and to organise and fundraise themselves,” it adds.

Signed by more than 80 organisations, including UK-based factcheckers Full Fact, the letter calls on YouTube to implement changes to how it moderates content on the platform.

These include commitments to fund independent research into how disinformation is circulated via the platform; alter its algorithms to penalise channels found to have spread misinformation; and offer users alternative sources on videos spreading misinformation and fake news.

“We hope you will consider implementing these ideas for the public good and to make YouTube a platform that truly does its best to prevent disinformation and misinformation being weaponised against its users and society at large,” the letter says.

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Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, social media sites and online platforms have come under intense scrutiny amid claims some are failing to tackle health-related misinformation.

In October 2020, YouTube updated its community guidelines in a bid to curb the spread of Covid misinformation on the site before announcing an outright ban on all anti-vaccine content in September 2021.

This second, wide-ranging policy update led to several popular anti-vax channels and activists being banned from the platform.

Elena Hernandez, a spokesperson for YouTube, said the company has made “important progress” in tackling misinformation, adding that the platform is “always looking for meaningful ways to improve” its processes.

“Over the years, we’ve invested heavily in policies and products in all countries we operate to connect people to authoritative content, reduce the spread of borderline misinformation, and remove violative videos,” she said.

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