YouTube Adding Experimental Community Notes Feature to Battle Misinformation

The main purpose of the new feature YouTube is testing, which allows users to add notes under videos, is to correct inaccurate or misleading information. This feature aims to combat misinformation and disinformation by enabling eligible contributors to provide factual corrections and clarifications directly beneath the videos. The platform will also allow viewers to rate the helpfulness of these notes, which will help train YouTube's systems to identify and publish the most useful and accurate information. This feature is currently in an experimental phase, with plans to expand and improve it over time.

During the test phase of YouTube's new feature that allows users to add notes under videos to correct inaccurate or misleading information, the platform will use a bridging-based algorithm to consider ratings and determine what notes are published. This algorithm helps identify notes that are helpful to a broad audience across perspectives. If many people who have rated notes differently in the past now rate the same note as helpful, then the system is more likely to show that note under a video. These systems will continuously improve as more notes are written and rated across a broad range of topics.

YouTube will also allow users to rate whether a note is helpful, which will theoretically help improve the system. In the initial pilot, third-party evaluators will rate the helpfulness of notes, which will help train the systems. As the pilot moves forward, YouTube plans to have contributors themselves rate notes as well.

It's important to note that YouTube acknowledges the potential for mistakes and incorrect information during this test phase. The company anticipates problems that will need to be ironed out along the way. The pilot will be available on mobile in the U.S. and in English to start.