YouTube has announced plans to start ‘workshops’ to help promote the understanding and identification of fake news.
The company has revealed plans to open workshops around the UK for 13 to 18 year old as part of the Internet Citizens Day promotion.
The announcement comes after recent high-profile criticisms of how internet companies are reporting news and allowing for the potential of hurtful or illegal transmissions to be conducted.
Last month the UK government removed all adverts from YouTube after concerns were expressed that their promotions may be appearing next (or with) inappropriate videos. This is following other high-profile withdrawals such as; The BBC, Channel 4 and the Guardian Newspaper.
The term ‘fake news’ has been popularised in the last year through the electoral campaign and confirmation of Donald Trumps Presidency in the USA.
The workshops are being introduced in the hope of educating teenagers about what fake news is, the purpose of it and most importantly – how to recognise it.
Naomi Gummer the chief of public policy at YouTube UK, has said: “The internet is what we want it to be. It can be an unpleasant place where people misunderstand and deliberately deceive each other or it can be this amazing place where we can share, collaborate, understand and help each other. We all have a part to play in making it that positive, healthy place. It sounds big, but actually it’s easy and you know what to do. Stand up for what you want.”.
It therefore seems clear that this is a matter which YouTube wants to address and makes them one of the first major online content hosts to provide a practical solution to recent criticisms.
