With a platform as huge and open as YouTube, it's difficult to ensure that information distributed on it is honest and transparent. This issue has never been more apparent than it is now, with the spread of fake news and the labeling of real news as fake making it damn near impossible for viewers to know which sources they can trust.

Google, like many other large tech organizations, should do all it can to maintain transparency in news reporting and that's apparently a big goal for the company in 2018. This latest addition to YouTube videos is a good start. From now on, notices will be displayed below news videos if the publisher is in any way government-funded. This could flag to users that what they're watching isn't entirely without bias.

Each notice will clearly state who is responsible for funding the broadcaster and will include a link to its Wikipedia page so you can become even more informed on the source. YouTube sees news as an opportunity for growth in 2018, and adding this will help set it apart as a trusted medium.

Funding notices are being rolled out in the US, to begin with, and YouTube asks that users and publishers send any feedback they may have. If successful, the feature will be expanded to cover other regions in the future.

Source: YouTube