YouTube can be an incredible place to discover and learn about new things, but with the huge number of people posting informative content every day, it can be perilously difficult to consistently point viewers in the direction of reliable sources, and away from those that publish misinformation. After a slew of videos spread false rumors regarding the results of the 2020 US presidential elections, YouTube enacted a policy that allowed it to remove videos that promoted lies about those results. Just over two years later, and with another election cycle looming, the video hosting platform is now walking that policy back.

Google reasons that the environment has changed since the last presidential elections, and as a result it will no longer remove content that contains false claims about the 2020 US elections or any other ones prior to it (via Axios). The company says it fears that removing this type of post could "have the unintended effect of curtailing political speech without meaningfully reducing the risk of violence or other real-world harm."

Although YouTube is standing down from this one policy, all of its other policies aimed at curbing misinformation will remain intact, including those forbidding videos questioning the outcome of certain international elections. Content that deceives viewers about voting time, places, means, or eligibility, that sways people away from voting, and that inspires people to meddle with "democratic processes" will universally be removed from the platform. Additionally, content that spreads hate speech, harassment, and incitement to violence will continue to be removed.

As the 2024 elections start to really take shape, YouTube will continue to monitor developments surrounding them. At the very least, the company is open to make changes to its strategy should anything arise in the time leading up to the elections.

Despite this step back, over the last few months, Google has implemented new ways to lessen people's exposure to targeted lies. In May, the company teamed up with the WHO to prevent medical misinformation on the internet. Prior to that, Google began a new effort to debunk misinformation with a term it calls "prebunking."