YouTube approved almost 50 ads filled with misinformation that attacked India’s elections: Report

A research organisation sent in 48 ads in English, Hindi, and Telugu that contained content violating YouTube’s election misinformation policies, but the ads were approved by the company

All the ads were approved by YouTube but withdrawn by the senders before publication for safety reasons, per the report [File] | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Almost 50 ads that were filled with misinformation, attacked India’s elections, or obstructed the country’s voters, were approved by YouTube despite clearly violating its policies surrounding election misinformation, according to a report published by the research organisations Access Now and Global Witness on Tuesday.

Titled ‘”Votes will not be counted”: Indian election disinformation ads and YouTube,’ the investigation involved sending 48 ads in English, Hindi, and Telugu that contained falsehoods about the upcoming election, including statements to the effect that female citizens could send in their vote by text, that the voting age had been raised to 21, and that religious groups were carrying out election-related fraud.

All the ads were approved by YouTube but withdrawn by the senders before publication for safety reasons, per the report.

“By failing to implement its own policies around disinformation, YouTube raises serious questions about its role in ensuring that [..] the upcoming Indian elections are free and fair. Heading into the crucial election year of 2024, tech platforms made tall promises about safeguarding electoral integrity, but the proof is in the pudding — YouTube greenlit all 48 ads violating its policies, submitted as part of our investigation,” said Namrata Maheshwari, senior policy counsel at Access Now, in a statement on the website.

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In response to the investigation, YouTube-parent Google claimed that none of the ads ran on its systems and that its policies were in effect year round.

“Our enforcement process has multiple layers to ensure ads comply with our policies, and just because an ad passes an initial technical check does not mean it won’t be blocked or removed by our enforcement systems if it violates our policies. In this case, the ads were deleted before our remaining enforcement reviews could take place,” said the company.