YouTube employees who warned about 'toxic' video problems were ignored

Over the past couple of years, YouTube has taken steps to tackle one of the company’s biggest challenges: the rise of toxic content on the platform.

Just recently, the company addressed misinformation with products like information cards, which fact check certain video search results. Anti-vaccination videos, which could harm the public, have been demonetized. YouTube has even promised to address its long-criticized recommendation product, so that it would stop actively promoting extremist and conspiratorial content.

There’s no doubt that YouTube is taking platform safety more seriously now than ever before. YouTube certainly wants its users to know that. However, a report from Bloomberg now shines a light on how YouTube was consistently warned about these problems by its employees well before it decided to address them. And while YouTube stresses how it’s centered on these issues over the past two years, one such rejected proposal could have helped stifle the spread of Parkland shooting conspiracies just last year. Read more...