Wikipedia Had No Idea YouTube Was Going to Use It to Fact-Check Conspiracy Theories

[steven36]

On Tuesday, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki announced that the company had a new strategy to deal with conspiracy theories on the platform: dropping a handy Wikipedia link beneath videos on highly contested topics. And it looks like Wikipedia learned about this curious strategy at the same time as everyone else.

 

 

 

In a Twitter thread asking the public to support Wikipedia as much as it relies on it, Wikimedia executive director Katherine Maher first suggested that the organization was unaware of YouTube’s plans. When asked whether this new module would only apply to English Wikipedia pages, Maher responded, “I couldn’t say; this was something they did independent of us.”

 

In a statement to Gizmodo, the Wikimedia Foundation confirmed that the organization first learned of the new YouTube feature on Tuesday. “We are always happy to see people, companies, and organizations recognize Wikipedia’s value as a repository of free knowledge,” a Wikimedia Foundation spokesperson said in a statement. “In this case, neither Wikipedia nor the Wikimedia Foundation are part of a formal partnership with YouTube. We were not given advance notice of this announcement.”

 

It’s unclear why YouTube didn’t feel the need to ask or inform Wikimedia about its plans ahead of this week’s announcement. That’s a pretty crucial piece of information not to share. And given that YouTube has failed at efficiently moderating conspiracy theories on its platform, it might have been smart to consult with Wikimedia about how to best use its resources to fight misinformation. Of course, maybe YouTube would’ve learned that showing users a Wikipedia link isn’t the best way to fight hoaxes.

 

We have reached out to YouTube for comment and will update this story if and when they respond.

 

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[lurch234]

You're on a roll! Interesting stuff you've been posting today

[luisam]

Some of thoe videos on YouTube about "conspiracy" theories  are simply CRAZY. It's evident that so called "youtubers" only want to monetize intrascendent fake information. I'm not sure if Wikipedia might be really pleased to be envolved in this scheme.

[steven36]

50 minutes ago, luisam said:

Some of thoe videos on YouTube about "conspiracy" theories  are simply CRAZY. It's evident that so called "youtubers" only want to monetize intrascendent fake information. I'm not sure if Wikipedia might be really pleased to be envolved in this scheme.

That's all   using Goggle services is all about,  that like that TV Addons  asking  for donations  when they get like 20k  a year from Google ad sense,  this not incl  VPNs paying them for advertising and other monetizing schemes  they use and they had the balls to go on a Youtubers show were is a really  untrusted person in the Kodi  community Husham   witch have a big following  of  newbies  to device new comers into donating ,  when there site  has been dead since they lost there .ag domain  and they have nothing worth using left . When all Husham does is give the Kodi  community a bad name , there are some good  Youtubers in the Kodi  community they always donate there money back to the community or to a charity . But they never have the hits like Husham  does ether witch monetize  for  a living . Adam didn't do himself no favors going on there begging for money  .Besides if me or you got dragged into court for piracy no one would pay our legal fees  so why should any one help a low life snitch like him to  pay his, who has got rich off Kodi .  They is some really good stuff on youtube  but it's full of  crap too . Be careful  who you  like and subscribe to many are  just  in it for the money .

[humble3d]