News24
16 Apr 2019, 11:43 GMT+10
Soon after a fire engulfed Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on Monday, news outlets began streaming live broadcasts on YouTube. Below several of the clips was an odd box of text: A snippet from Encyclopedia Britannica about the September 11 terrorist attacks.
YouTube, a division of Alphabet's Google, introduced this text box feature last year to combat the spread of conspiracy theories, including those that question the 9/11 attacks. On Monday, YouTube's software mistakenly labeled the plumes of smoke in Paris as footage from 2001, triggering the panel below the video.
"We are deeply saddened by the ongoing fire at the Notre-Dame cathedral," said a YouTube spokesman. "These panels are triggered algorithmically and our systems sometimes make the wrong call. We are disabling these panels for live streams related to the fire."
YouTube has been battered with criticism over extreme and misleading videos, especially around breaking news topics. While the service has become the world's largest video site, it has struggled to use software and human reviewers to understand and police the millions of hours of footage that gets uploaded daily.
Last month, video of an attack on mosques in New Zealand was streamed on YouTube and other social-media services. Videos questioning important facts, such as the moon landing and the efficacy of vaccines, have also run rampant on YouTube, prompting inquiries from US lawmakers.
Last year, YouTube Chief Executive Officer Susan Wojcicki unveiled the information boxes as a solution that she hoped would help quell conspiracy theories. The text is pulled from websites including Wikipedia to counteract misleading videos with well-established facts.
The company has said it shows "tens of millions" of the text panels below videos each week.
On Twitter, conspiracy theories spread about the cathedral fire. An account impersonating CNN with the handle @CNNpolitics2020 tweeted that "CNN can now confirm the Notre Dame fire was caused by an act of terrorism." The tweet gained dozens of retweets and likes. The account is now suspended.
Another tweet said the fire was intentionally set. It was deleted, but website Infowars wrote a story based on the tweet.
French Deputy Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said it was too early to say what caused the fire, while Paris prosecutors have opened an investigation.
"We're reviewing reports and taking action in line with our rules," Twitter said in a statement.
Get a daily dose of Manufacturing Mirror news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Manufacturing Mirror.
More InformationPublicly, Beijing has presented itself as a neutral party in the war sparked by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, claiming it...
London [UK], July 11 (ANI): New UK package of support for Ukraine's immediate and longer-term needs was tabled at Ukraine Recovery...
Arrests of critics mount as authorities allege a wide-ranging plot to overthrow Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans government An Armenian...
Patna (Bihar) [India], July 9 (ANI): RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday heavily criticised the Election Commission of India for...
Fazilka (Punjab) [India], July 9 (ANI): Two accused in the murder of Abohar businessman Sanjay Verma were killed in retaliatory police...
Patna (Bihar) [India], July 8 (ANI): Bihar ADG Kundan Krishnan on Tuesday informed that the shooter who was involved in the businessman...
HONG KONG: China has fired back at the European Union in an escalating trade dispute by imposing new restrictions on medical device...
New Delhi [India], July 11 (ANI): Trade negotiations between the United States and China are moving slowly, raising the chances that...
(Photo credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images) Anthony Volpe scored the tiebreaking run on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Aaron Judge...
(Photo credit: Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images) Pete Crow-Armstrong crushed a pair of home runs and right-hander Colin Rea handled the...
GUANGZHOU, July 10 (Xinhua) -- As global industries accelerate their transition toward intelligence and sustainability, China's innovative...
URUMQI, July 10 (Xinhua) -- A total of 24 journalists from 23 countries have participated in a media tour of northwest China's Xinjiang...