YouTube CEO says the platform will lift Trump's suspension when risk of violence drops
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said Thursday that the platform will lift the suspension on the account of former President Donald Trump once the risk of violence declines. Facebook and Twitter had earlier suspended Trump's accounts, citing the risk of further violence. YouTube said Trump's account had attempted to upload a video that violated its policies, giving it an automatic seven-day suspension under its guidelines. While Wojcicki was clear that she expects YouTube to reinstate Trump's account, Twitter has said Trump's suspension is a permanent one. WATCH: The big, messy business of content moderation on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube
cnbc.comYouTube says its TikTok competitor is getting 3.5 billion views a day in India test run
YouTube's short-form video feature Shorts, which aims to compete with TikTok, is achieving 3.5 billion views per day during its early test run in India, the company said Tuesday. YouTube does not reveal detailed statistics for the service overall, but has said that 2 billion logged-in users visit every month, and that people watch a billion hours of video on the service every day. The latest metric comes as Google-owned YouTube said it is looking to expand Shorts to more markets in 2021, according to a blog post YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki published Tuesday morning. Over the last three years, the company has paid more than $30 billion to creators, artists, and media companies. The goal is to ensure fair treatment for creators of different backgrounds when it comes to search results and monetization opportunities.
cnbc.comYouTube stands alone as other social media providers race to deplatform Trump
Michael Newberg | CNBCWhen it comes to social media and President Trump, one company's actions have stood out: YouTube. On Wednesday, Jan. 6, President Trump gave a speech that some followers took as a call to violent action, sparking a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Trump's YouTube home page, meanwhile, still automatically plays a 46-minute video rife with false allegations of voter fraud. Numerous reports show how YouTube has been sluggish to control misinformation in the aftermath of the 2020 election. One possibility may be that it's simply harder for YouTube and outsiders -- like researchers and journalists -- to search through video content to find violations.
cnbc.comYouTube says it will move more quickly to suspend channels posting videos claiming widespread voter fraud
YouTube says it's going to suspend any channels posting new videos of false widespread voter fraud claims, rather than giving them a warning as was its previous policy. YouTube's regular policy allows channels to get one warning for posting false content before giving them a strike. Facebook announced Thursday that it would take the unprecedented step of blocking Trump from posting at least until Inauguration Day. Twitter blocked several Trump tweets containing false claims and put a 12-hour moratorium on new posts until he removed those tweets. In November, Senate Democrats asked YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki to commit to removing videos that contain false election information.
cnbc.comSenate Democrats ask YouTube CEO to remove election misinformation ahead of Georgia runoff
Several Senate Democrats wrote a letter to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki on Monday evening, saying they were concerned about election misinformation on its platform and demanding that it be removed. The letter outlines the risk of misinformation ahead of two Jan. 5 Senate runoff races in Georgia that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. In response to the letter from the Senate Democrats, a YouTube spokesperson said the most popular election videos on the site come from "authoritative news organizations." "Like other companies, we allow discussions of this election's results and the process of counting votes, and are continuing to closely monitor new developments," the YouTube spokesperson said in a statement. It also asks YouTube for data on videos spreading misinformation as well as to quantify the revenue it has received from hosting election result misinformation.
cnbc.comHow Google evolved from 'cuddly' startup to antitrust target
That pledge is now a distant memory as Google confronts an existential threat similar to what Microsoft once faced. They focused on creating a database of everything on the internet through a search engine that almost instantaneously listed a pecking order of websites most likely to have what anyone wanted. Google's promotion of Chrome on its search engine helped the browser supplant Explorer as the market leader. Google began reining in its spending and even created a new holding company, Alphabet, to oversee some of its unprofitable projects, such as internet=beaming balloons and self-driving cars. —-Liedtke first interviewed Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 2000 when he began covering Google for the AP.
YouTube tightens rules on conspiracy videos, but stops short of banning QAnon
Google's YouTube is updating its hate speech policy to ban videos that target individuals or groups with conspiracy theories that have been used to incite violence, such as QAnon. "One example would be content that threatens or harasses someone by suggesting they are complicit in one of these harmful conspiracies, such as QAnon or Pizzagate." The change stops short of a total ban on QAnon, which echoes YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki's stance in a recent CNN interview. Facebook earlier this week said it would ban all QAnon groups as dangerous, and Twitter has also cracked down on QAnon-related content. YouTube added that it has removed tens of thousands of QAnon videos and terminated hundreds of channels under existing policies, including those that threaten violence.
cnbc.comYouTube reverses policy of banning ads on coronavirus videos
In a reversal of its previous policy, Google's YouTube is planning on enabling ads on some videos discussing coronavirus, CEO Susan Wojcicki wrote in a blog post Wednesday. YouTube ads generated $15.15 billion in revenue in 2019, with $4.72 billion in the fourth quarter alone, but that amount fell short of some analysts' expectations. The revised YouTube policy will apply to a limited number of channels, including some from creators who "self-certify" and a range of news partners. Videos still have to meet guidelines that make them suitable for ads, like not including inappropriate language, violence, adult or hateful content, Google added. CNBC last week found numerous examples of Google ads for products claiming to protect against the coronavirus, despite Google's policies.
cnbc.comYouTube says it paid the music industry more than $3 billion last year
YouTube says it paid the music industry more than $3 billion last year. "YouTube offers twin engines for revenue with advertising and subscribers, paying out more than $3 billion to the music industry last year from ads and subscriptions," YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said in a blog post Friday. The latest figure hints at how much of the Alphabet-owned company's ad revenue goes back to music industry and creators. YouTube broke out ad revenue numbers for the first time in its fourth quarter earlier this month. YouTube ads generated $15.15 billion in revenue in fiscal 2019, with $4.72 billion generated in the fourth quarter alone.
cnbc.comCritics slam study claiming YouTube's algorithm doesn't lead to radicalization
A recent study that concluded YouTube's algorithm does not direct users toward radical content drew the ire of experts over the weekend. The study, which was published last week and CNBC previously reported on, also said that YouTube's algorithm favors left-leaning and politically neutral channels. However, online radicalization and technology experts cited several shortcomings in criticizing the study, which has not been peer-reviewed. One author of the study, independent data scientist Mark Ledwich, claimed in a Medium post last week that the study shows that YouTube's algorithm de-radicalizes users. He also defended the reports as a portrayal of the personal experience of online radicalization rather than a quantitative probe of the algorithm.
cnbc.comYouTube CEO says she doesn't let her young children watch the main site
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki doesn't allow her children to browse videos on the app, unless they're using a version that's meant for kids. YouTube Kids is a version of the Google-owned platform that's designed for children under age 13. While it was launched as a way for kids to safely browse videos, YouTube Kids has also hosted a slew of problematic content, including violent and disturbing videos, The New York Times reported. The agency alleged that YouTube earned millions by illegally collecting personal data from young children without proper consent from their parents. In YouTube's response, it directed parents to use the YouTube Kids app.
cnbc.com300+ Trump ads taken down by Google, YouTube
How to handle political ads on social media has become a growing concern as the 2020 U.S. presidential election approaches. While political ads on social media do not adhere to different rules than political ads on TV, they have come under specific scrutiny because of their unique ability to disseminate broadly and rapidly -- bad information, and the platforms' inability to properly police them. 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl asked Wojcicki, "Have you taken down any of President Trump's ads at all?" YouTube's CEO responded, "There are ads of President Trump that were not approved to run on Google or YouTube." We found that over 300 video ads were taken down by Google and YouTube, mostly over the summer, for violating company policy.
cbsnews.comYouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and the debate over Section 230
Why Section 230 existsWhen Congress first established Section 230, their goal was not for online platforms to be neutral outlets where anything goes. The precedent the suits set at the time was that online platforms could reduce their liability if they did not moderate users' content. Democrats say Section 230 has allowed platforms like Facebook to become a place where foreign governments disseminate propaganda without consequence. Where YouTube's CEO standsYouTube's CEO Susan Wojcicki highlighted the importance of Section 230 in shaping today's online experience. She also said that, if Congress were to pass further laws limiting what content YouTube can host, the company would comply.
cbsnews.comHow does YouTube handle the site's misinformation, conspiracy theories and hate?
YouTube CEO Susan WojcickiSusan Wojcicki: We have 500 hours of video uploaded every single minute to YouTube. Lesley Stahl: Do you let your children watch YouTube, including the young ones? YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and the debate over Section 230So's watching people binge eat. And we work really hard with all of our reviewers to make sure that, you know, we're providing the right services for them. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki with correspondent Lesley StahlOnce you watch one of these, YouTube's algorithms might recommend you watch similar content.
cbsnews.comYouTube CEO implores video creators to take some time off
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki says in 2019, she's been hearing more about creators feeling the need to constantly produce content, resulting in burnout. They found out that creators can, in fact, take a break and their viewership won't suffer. Some content creators, who count on ads as their main source of revenue, were enraged in September after some received emails suggesting they would lose their verification status on YouTube. Wojcicki said she asked the product team at YouTube to look into the data around creators taking breaks from the platform. "For gaming creators, we've heard loud and clear that our policies need to differentiate between real-world violence and gaming violence," she noted.
cnbc.comLGBTQ YouTubers file discrimination lawsuit, say leaders just paying 'lip service' to concerns
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki speaks during the opening keynote address at the Google I/O 2017 Conference at Shoreline Amphitheater on May 17, 2017 in Mountain View, California. Several LGBTQ YouTube creators are criticizing executives' promises and apologies "lip service" in a new class action complaint. The complaint, which accuses YouTube of discrimination and fraud, includes eight plaintiffs who have their own channels about the LGBTQ community and have thousands of subscribers. CEO Susan Wojcicki apologized to the LGBTQ community at a tech conference but stood by her decision to host homophobic slurs. WATCH: YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki faces tough questions at Code Con
cnbc.comYouTube CEO on balancing work and personal lives
Every minute, 300 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube, which claims more than one billion users worldwide. It's CEO Susan Wojcicki's job to try and turn all those clicks into cash. She did it once as the principal architect of parent company Google's ad program. Norah O'Donnell reports.
cbsnews.com