Before the EU elections in June

YouTube launches measures against AI disinformation

Every video that contains AI content will now be marked with an AI label ("altered or synthetic content"), similar to advertisements.

(Bild: AFP)

Around a month before the EU parliamentary elections (June 6 to 9), Google subsidiary YouTube has recorded a significant increase in video material manipulated with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). Last year, 35,000 videos that spread disinformation in this way were already blocked, according to a background discussion with journalists. For the EU election campaign, YouTube wants to focus on labeling AI content.

Every video that contains AI content is to be marked with an AI label ("altered or synthetic content"), similar to advertisements. If manipulated content is uploaded without a label, YouTube will add it retrospectively or block the video. There are no exceptions; content from politicians must also be labeled. This is necessary because foreign actors, specifically Russia, want to influence the election campaign.

AI and deepfake representations are used by these actors to deceive voters, it was said. Users are particularly often deceived by old video recordings being passed off as new ones. This trend is not new. YouTube representatives said that something similar had already been observed in the Ukraine war and the Middle East conflict. A high five-digit number of content has already been deleted here.

In addition to curbing disinformation, YouTube also wants to strengthen political participation in the EU elections. Under the slogan "Supporting the European Parliamentary Elections", the aim is to provide users with targeted content such as information on the candidates, the electoral system and the framework conditions. Users will also be reminded to exercise their right to vote by means of advertisements.

There are also plans to prioritize "trustworthy sources". They are more likely to be displayed in search queries than other sources. When asked, YouTube representatives emphasized that they were referring to established media such as daily newspapers and TV stations.