YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has revealed that the platform will be partnering with the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, UnidosUS, on “misinformation research and initiatives.”
While Wojcicki didn’t reveal any further details of this partnership, she reiterated that YouTube is “working every day to fight misinformation.”
Wojcicki previously described tackling misinformation as one of her top priorities and YouTube has deleted more than a million videos for containing what it deems to be “COVID misinformation.”
UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía echoed Wojcicki’s enthusiasm for targeting online misinformation in a tweet about the partnership.
“Eager as well to move forward on the key issue of addressing disinfo & misinformation in English & Spanish,” Murguía tweeted.
Murguía added that she’s united with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) on UnidosUS’s efforts.
Wojcicki met with members of the CHC last week to discuss Spanish-language misinformation. After the meeting, the CHC said that addressing Spanish-language “dis/misinformation” is an “urgent priority.”
Although the specifics of YouTube and UnidosUS’s partnership have yet to be disclosed, UnidosUS has previously pressured Big Tech platforms to “address” misinformation.
Last October, the group cut ties with Facebook after former employee Frances Haugen’s shared internal documents that suggested the tech giant was aware of the platform having a negative impact on some users.
“We have called attention repeatedly to concerns about the negative impact that the proliferation of hate and misinformation on the platform has had on the Latino community,” Murguía stated at the time. “We know now that Facebook’s failure to adequately address those concerns was deliberate and resulted in even greater levels of hate and misinformation on the site.”
Last December, Murguía lamented that Congress has never held a hearing dedicated to Facebook’s “failure to address Spanish-language misinformation” and demanded that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg “tell Congress why Facebook perpetuates Spanish-language misinformation.”
