{"id":1463264,"date":"2022-05-04T08:01:47","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T12:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1463264"},"modified":"2022-05-04T08:01:53","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T12:01:53","slug":"democrats-are-pressuring-youtube-to-censor-spanish-language-disinformation-ahead-of-midterms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-are-pressuring-youtube-to-censor-spanish-language-disinformation-ahead-of-midterms\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Are Pressuring YouTube To Censor Spanish-Language \u2018Disinformation\u2019 Ahead Of Midterms"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-are-pressuring-youtube-to-censor-spanish-language-disinformation-ahead-of-midterms%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1463264&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/pexels-photo-1024x683-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Congressional Democrats are pressuring YouTube to increase censorship of Spanish-language content they deem disinformation in a bid to influence Hispanic voters ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), which is comprised of all Democrats, held a <a href=\"https:\/\/chc.house.gov\/media-center\/press-releases\/chc-members-meet-with-youtube-ceo-to-discuss-spanish-language\">meeting<\/a> with YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki to \u201cdiscuss the urgency of addressing Spanish language dis\/misinformation, content moderation, and YouTube\u2019s initiatives and policies addressing dis\/misinformation,\u201d with the group arguing that \u201c[a]ddressing the rampant spread of Spanish-language dis\/misinformation remains an urgent priority for the CHC as Hispanics across the country increasingly turn to social media for vital information.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe appreciate Susan Wojcicki, YouTube CEO, for meeting with CHC Members today to answer our concerns on Spanish-language dis\/misinformation,\u201d CHC chair and California Democrat Rep. Raul Ruiz said in a press release. \u201cLies cost lives, and the CHC continues to call for strengthened oversight and to push social media companies to bolster their infrastructure to combat dis\/misinformation on their platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Illinois Democrat Rep. Jes\u00fas \u201cChuy\u201d Garc\u00eda echoed similar sentiments, saying that \u201c[t]he spread of misinformation remains an existential, urgent threat to democracy\u201d and that \u201csocial media platforms like YouTube must be included in efforts to prevent the spread of lies and distortion of the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a result of the meeting, YouTube has purportedly agreed to take significant action. According to CHC member and New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n, Wojcicki allegedly \u201ccommitted to releasing core internal accountability metrics at YouTube,\u201d which includes the company\u2019s \u201cViolative View Rate, for Spanish-language content.\u201d VVR is a metric utilized by YouTube to <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.youtube\/inside-youtube\/building-greater-transparency-and-accountability\/\">assist<\/a> the company in determining \u201cwhat percentage of views\u201d come from \u201ccontent that violates [their] policies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Google did not respond to The Federalist\u2019s request for comment on what specific actions YouTube plans to take on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement provided to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2022\/04\/29\/hispanic-caucus-pushes-youtube-chief-data-spanish-language-misinformation\/\">The Washington Post<\/a>, however, YouTube spokeswoman Elena Hernandez confirmed that the Big Tech platform \u201chad a productive meeting\u201d with the caucus, \u201cwhere [they] shared the work [they] do at YouTube to combat harmful misinformation in Spanish.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other Big Tech companies slated to meet with the CHC about \u201cSpanish disinformation\u201d in the coming months include Twitter, Meta (Facebook\u2019s parent company), and TikTok, according to the Post.<\/p>\n<p>YouTube has routinely censored scientific facts it considers to be \u201cdisinformation,\u201d with Covid-19 being a prime example. In Sept. 2020, for instance, the video streaming platform <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/youtubes-political-censorship-11600126230\">removed<\/a> a 50-minute interview of Dr. Scott Atlas, a neuroradiologist and former coronavirus task force member under the Trump administration, in which he argued that the risk of children spreading the virus is \u201cnot impossible, but it\u2019s less likely\u201d than adults. Such a claim was scientifically well-supported, with a <a href=\"https:\/\/publications.aap.org\/pediatrics\/article\/146\/2\/e2020004879\/36879\/COVID-19-Transmission-and-Children-The-Child-Is\">study<\/a> from the American Academy of Pediatrics proving so as early as August 1, 2020.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYouTube does not allow content that spreads medical misinformation that contradicts the World Health Organization (WHO) or local health authorities\u2019 medical information about COVID-19,\u201d a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/youtubes-political-censorship-11600126230\">statement<\/a> from the company said.<\/p>\n<p>The pressure campaign by congressional Democrats to increase censorship of Spanish-language content comes amid disastrous poll numbers for the ruling party ahead of the 2022 midterms, which show Democrats bleeding support among Hispanic voters.<\/p>\n<p>As documented in a recent NPR\/PBS NewsHour\/Marist <a href=\"https:\/\/maristpoll.marist.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/NPR_PBS-NewsHour_Marist-Poll_USA-NOS-and-Tables_202204271123.pdf\">poll<\/a>, if the 2022 midterms were held today, 52 percent of Latino voters said they would cast their ballot for the Republican candidate, compared to 39 percent who said they would vote for the Democrat. Moreover, the same poll found President Joe Biden\u2019s approval rating with Hispanics underwater by 15 points, with 40 percent approving of his performance as president and 55 percent disapproving.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"M2vl4dXGJiy3DaRw\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8\ud83d\udea8POLL THREAD\ud83d\udea8\ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n<p>A new Marist poll suggests Democrats have a big Hispanic problem heading into 2022 \u2014 down 13.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve studied Hispanic voters for over a decade and led President Trump&#8217;s 2020 Latino advertising (yes, I made the famous &#8220;salsa&#8221; ad). <\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s what it all means\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/81bPvEOi6A\">pic.twitter.com\/81bPvEOi6A<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Giancarlo Sopo (@GiancarloSopo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GiancarloSopo\/status\/1520941028127256576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Similar numbers were also found in a March poll from The Wall Street Journal, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2022\/may\/2\/republicans-making-critical-gains-among-hispanic-a\/\">found<\/a> Hispanic voters opting for the \u201cRepublican candidate over a Democrat by 9 percentage points on the generic congressional ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Democrats have routinely censored and labeled facts they disagree with as \u201cdisinformation\u201d for years, the advocation for governmental involvement in the sphere of public discussion has notably increased under the Biden administration. Most recently, the White House announced the establishment of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/white-house-defends-dhs-disinformation-board-not-sure-who-opposes-that-effort\">Disinformation Governance Board<\/a>, whose objective is \u201cto crack down on what it considers to be online disinformation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Set to head the board is a woman named Nina Jankowicz, who in October 2020 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wiczipedia\/status\/1319463138107031553?s=20&#038;t=T97I085wRICxTlA9de6ZBQ\">insinuated<\/a> that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian misinformation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBack on the \u2018laptop from hell,\u2019 apparently- Biden notes 50 former natsec officials and 5 former CIA heads that believe the laptop is a Russian influence op,\u201d she wrote in a tweet. \u201cTrump says \u2018Russia, Russia, Russia.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other disqualifying <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/05\/02\/how-republican-senators-can-defund-bidens-dystopic-disinformation-board\/\">actions<\/a> taken by Jankowicz include the spreading of \u201cmisleading claims about the Christopher Steele dossier\u201d and seemingly voicing support for \u201ccontextualizing speech into a law enforcement frame.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Shawn Fleetwood is an intern at The Federalist and a senior at the University of Mary Washington. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Congressional Democrats are pressuring YouTube to increase censorship of Spanish-language content they deem disinformation in a bid to influence Hispanic voters ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Last week, the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1463264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1463264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1463264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1463264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1463264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1463264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1463264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}