Posts Tagged: content
Google TV Update Boosts App and Content Loading Times
When it comes to hardware, unless you’ve got one of Nvidia’s Shield TV devices streaming your content it’s…
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TCL’s Tab Disney Edition 2 comes packed with kid-friendly content for $199
Here to take on Amazon’s Fire Kids Edition tablet is TCL with its new Tab Disney Edition 2 slate which packs in a ton of kid-friendly content, an 8-inch HD display, and a colorful protective bumper case with a foldout kickstand for $ 199. The Tab Disney Edition 2 tablet is now on sale at Verizon, […]
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Senate bill would hold AI companies liable for harmful content
Politicians think they have a way to hold companies accountable for troublesome generative AI: take away their legal protection. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Josh Hawley have introduced a No Section 230 Immunity for AI Act that, as the name suggests, would prevent OpenAI, Google and similar firms from using the Communications Decency Act's Section 230 to waive liability for harmful content and avoid lawsuits. If someone created a deepfake image or sound bite to ruin a reputation, for instance, the tool developer could be held responsible alongside the person who used it.
Hawley characterizes the bill as forcing AI creators to "take responsibility for business decisions" as they're developing products. He also casts the legislation as a "first step" toward creating rules for AI and establishing safety measures. In a hearing this week on AI's effect on human rights, Blumenthal urged Congress to deny AI the broad Section 230 safeguards that have shielded social networks from legal consequences.
In May, Blumenthal and Hawley held a hearing where speakers like OpenAI chief Sam Altman called for the government to act on AI. Industry leaders have already urged a pause on AI experimentation, and more recently compared the threat of unchecked AI to that of nuclear war.
Congress has pushed for Section 230 reforms for years in a bid to rein in tech companies, particularly over concerns that internet giants might knowingly allow hurtful content. A 2021 House bill would have held businesses liable if they knowingly used algorithms that cause emotional or physical harm. These bills have stalled, though, and Section 230 has remained intact. Legislators have had more success in setting age verification requirements that theoretically reduce mental health issues for younger users.
It's not clear this bill stands a greater chance of success. Blumenthal and Hawley are known for introducing online content bills that fail to gain traction, such as the child safety-oriented EARN IT Act and Hawley's anti-addiction SMART Act. On top of persuading fellow senators, they'll need an equivalent House bill that also survives a vote.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/senate-bill-would-hold-ai-companies-liable-for-harmful-content-212340911.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Pocket’s New Features Make It Easier to Discover and Organize Content
Pocket, the popular read-it-later app, has just released a new update with a number of new features that make it easier to discover and organize content. New Home Screen New Lists Feature Another big new feature in the update is the ability to create lists. Lists allow you to organize your saved content into categories […]
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TikTok says it’s getting better at detecting ‘borderline’ content
For the past several months, TikTok has been working on new ways to age-restrict certain types of content as part of a broader push to ramp up safety features for younger users. The app unveiled a new ratings system earlier this year, called Content Levels, to help it identify more “mature” content.
Now, the company has another update on those efforts. In a blog post, the company says that it’s launching a new version of its “borderline suggestive model,” which the company uses to automatically identify “sexually explicit, suggestive, or borderline content.” According to a TikTok spokesperson, the new model is better able to detect so-called “borderline content,” videos that don’t explicitly break the app’s rules, but may not be suitable for younger users.
TikTok isn’t the only platform to filter out this type of content from recommendations. Instagram has long attempted to weed borderline content out of its recommendations as well. But content with more “mature” themes, but that doesn’t contain explicit nudity, has long been more difficult for automated systems to consistently detect. TikTok didn’t offer specifics on how much more accurate the new system is, but it shared that in the last 30 days the company has “prevented teen accounts from viewing over 1 million overtly sexually suggestive videos.”
Elsewhere, the app is also rolling out the ability for creators to restrict their videos to adult viewers. This feature was previously only available for live videos, but will now be enabled for short-form clips as well.
Plex’s new global search will let you find and save content from Netflix, Prime Video, Disney, and more to a single Watchlist
Subscribing to multiple streaming services means dealing with multiple watchlists and searching them individually to find that movie you want to watch but Plex may well have the answer to this particular problem. Plex has added a brand new feature called ‘Discover’ that will let you search your favorite streaming services such as Disney+, HBO […]
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Besides new Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar content, 2021 will see Disney+ increase prices in every region
The Walt Disney 2020 Investor Day brought an overload of excitement and hype with the prospect of roughly 10 new Star Wars series, 10 Marvel series, and 15 Disney live-action, animation, and Pixar content on the horizon over the “next few years”. Sadly, the Investor Day also brings the bad news that the Disney+ streaming […]
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Ten years later, Blizzard is done making content for ‘StarCraft II’
A few months after StarCraft II’s 10th year anniversary, Blizzard has announced that it’s moving away from creating new content for the title and focusing on “what’s next.” Blizzard VP Robert Bridenbecker said the developer won’t be producing for-pur…
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[Updated 26/08/20] These Android phones and tablets can stream HDR content on Netflix
With more and more flagship smartphones and tablets supporting HDR 10 and higher, the list of smart devices that can stream Netflix in HDR isn’t as vast as you might think. Your device may have a display with QHD or even 4K resolution, but if Netflix hasn’t certified it as compatible with HDR streaming, you […]
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In-game content based on Netflix’s Cursed drama is coming soon to Black Desert Online
Pearl Abyss and Kakao Games have announced that they are developing in-game content for the Black Desert MMORPG title based on Netflix’s Original Series, the Cursed. In case you aren’t familiar with Cursed, it’s a medieval high-fantasy series that made its debut on the streaming service on July 17th. The crossover content is scheduled for […]
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To our YouTube TV members: an update to our content and price
In 2017, we introduced YouTube TV, live TV designed for the YouTube generation — those who want to stream TV when and how they want, without commitments. We’ve just passed the three-year mark, so I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on how we’re thinking about YouTube TV.
Since launch, we’ve listened to your feedback and worked to build an experience that fits the needs of everyone in your family, by adding highly-requested content like PBS and Discovery Network brands, including HGTV and Food Network, and launching new features to reinvent how you watch live TV.
As we continue to build a best-in-class experience for you, we have a few updates to share: new content launching today, new features we’ve recently introduced, and an updated price.
More content to enjoy, starting today
Earlier this year, we let you know that we’d soon be adding more of ViacomCBS’s family of brands to YouTube TV, which includes 8 of your favorite channels launching today: BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TV Land and VH1.
That means you can follow the biggest stories in news, politics and pop culture with “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah;” catch up with Catelynn, Cheyenne, Maci, Mackenzie and Amber on “Teen Mom OG;” join the search for America’s next drag superstar with “RuPaul’s Drag Race;” go on an adventure with “SpongeBob SquarePants;” and follow the fictional lives of the Dutton family on the new season of “Yellowstone,” airing now.
BET Her, MTV2, MTV Classic, Nick Jr., NickToons, and TeenNick are also set to come to YouTube TV at a later date.
In addition to our base plan of now more than 85+ channels, we also recently introduced Cinemax and HBO Max, which includes all of HBO plus a robust library of content and original series, to our growing list of add-on channels, making YouTube TV your one-stop shop for entertainment.
The latest features to try while you sit back with your favorite shows
We’re always listening to our member’s feedback on the channels they want to see on YouTube TV, but we’re also continuously building new features and making improvements that reinvent how you watch TV and interact with your favorite content on YouTube TV. Here are just a few of those features and updates we’ve launched recently:
- Jump to the news that matters most to you: We’ve been testing a new feature that allows you to jump to various segments within select news programs on YouTube TV, and have just brought this to all users. Similar to our key plays view for sports, on some programs you’ll be able to jump to specific news clips within the complete recording. This feature is available on TV screens now and will come to mobile devices in the coming weeks.
- Control over your recorded content: In addition to your unlimited DVR space, YouTube TV members can pause, rewind, and fast forward through all their recorded shows, regardless of network.
- Go easy on the eyes with Dark Mode: We recently introduced a dark theme to both desktop and mobile devices to help tone down your screen’s glare and experience YouTube TV with a dark background.
- Mark a show as watched: You now have an option to select “Mark as Watched” on desktop and mobile devices for any TV show you’ve already seen, a top requested feature from our members.
- A fresh new look for the Live Guide: Based on your feedback, we’ve updated the Live Guide on desktop so you can see what’s on, now, and also scroll ahead 7 days into the future.
An update to your price
As we continue to evaluate how to provide the best possible service and content for you, our membership price will be $ 64.99. This new price takes effect today, June 30, for new members. Existing subscribers will see these changes reflected in their subsequent billing cycle on or after July 30.
We don’t take these decisions lightly, and realize how hard this is for our members. That said, this new price reflects the rising cost of content and we also believe it reflects the complete value of YouTube TV, from our breadth of content to the features that are changing how we watch live TV. YouTube TV is the only streaming service that includes a DVR with unlimited storage space, plus 6 accounts per household each with its own unique recommendations, and 3 concurrent streams. It’s all included in the base cost of YouTube TV, with no contract and no hidden fees.
While we would love every member to continue to stay with our service, we understand that some of you may choose to pause or cancel your membership. We want to make YouTube TV flexible for you, so members can pause or cancel anytime here.
As the streaming industry continues to evolve, we are working to build new flexible models for YouTube TV users, so we can continue to provide a robust and innovative experience for everyone in your household without the commitments of traditional TV.
Thank you for being a part of the YouTube TV family. We’ll continue to work to make it the best place to watch live TV, how you want it.
Christian Oestlien, Vice President of Product Management, YouTube TV
YouTube TV doubles down on ViacomCBS content this summer with 14 extra channels
With the coronavirus lockdown resulting in streaming services scrabbling for more content to satiate those of us that are self-isolating, YouTube TV is set to add more than a dozen new channels to its line-up courtesy of a new multi-year agreement with ViacomCBS. As the third most popular live TV streaming services in the US, […]
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YouTube Originals announces slate of new content amidst COVID-19 #WithMe initiatives
YouTube Originals today announced a new slate of projects aimed to support, entertain and educate viewers around the world. Among the announcements, celebrities and educators come together to energize distance learning in “Celebrity Substitute” including Karlie Kloss working through a coding problem and Ken Jeong giving a Biology lesson; a weekly series “Stay Home With: YUNGBLUD,” following the UK recording artist and his band as they adjust to a remote lifestyle while creating music; a short-form family series, “Create Together #WithMe,” hosted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt featuring the creations of everyday people collaborating to make art on HITRECORD and YouTube while being at home; and “The Secret Life of Lele Pons” which gives an intimate look at battling Tourette Syndrome and OCD while juggling life in the spotlight.
In addition, engaging new content will come directly from notable YouTube personalities who will be able to leverage the global platform’s quality livestream capabilities from a safe space. Kicking off this new wave of content is a first-of-its-kind global live event, “The Creator Games Presented by MrBeast,” hosted by top Creator and philanthropist MrBeast (34M subscribers) on April 25, where he will challenge some of the platform’s biggest stars to remotely go head-to-head in a battle of stay-at-home games where there can be only one winner. The proceeds will go to a COVID-19-related charitable organization.
“YouTube’s greatest strength is its ability as a global platform to build community and connection among people from all walks of life,” said Susanne Daniels, Global Head of Original Content for YouTube. “We’re working to develop exciting new original content that is relevant, useful, and entertaining in order to deepen those connections and give people an outlet to come together.”
Also, as part of YouTube’s continued commitment to families, beginning in May, several new kids & family Originals will launch and be available on YouTube and YouTube Kids. These new Originals will help inspire kids’ curiosity, creativity, resourcefulness and resiliency during these unusual times.
Below is the current list of planned new Originals rolling out within the next few months:
“Money Talks: Taxes” — Streaming now!
In this new Learning Playlist, a roundtable of leading female financial experts provide answers to the questions surrounding personal finances that we are all desperate to know. Offering a step by step guide for viewers, this first series of videos covers pressing questions about filing taxes and the COVID-19 stimulus check. “Money Talks” is produced by Refinery29.
“The Creator Games Presented by MrBeast” — Live stream premieres April 25 at 6:00 p.m. ET / 3:00 p.m. PT
A global LIVE event where popular YouTube creator, MrBeast (34M subscribers), challenges the platform’s biggest stars to remotely go head-to-head in a first-of-its-kind battle of stay-at-home games where there can be only one winner. “The Creator Games Presented by MrBeast” will encourage viewers to donate to support COVID-19-related charitable organizations and is produced by Night Media and Fly On the Wall.
“Stay Home With: YUNGBLUD” — Series premieres April 27
This weekly episodic series follows UK recording artist, YUNGBLUD, through a month at a rental apartment in L.A. Along with four friends – his manager, videographer and two bandmates with whom he is quarantined – YUNGBLUD attempts to shoot a music video, write new songs, cook meals and stay connected to his UK-based family and avid global fanbase, all within the disconcerting shelter-at-home restrictions. “Stay Home With: YUNGBLUD” will encourage viewers to donate to support No Kid Hungry and is produced by Stick Figure Entertainment.
“#MoveWithMe” — Global Dance Event premieres April 29
In celebration of International Dance Day (April 29), this special will feature acclaimed choreographer Matt Steffanina as host, and talented dancers and choreographers from across the globe as they come together to provide dance-lovers with high octane performances to today’s chart topping songs in a way that can only be done on YouTube. Choreographers and dancers including LaurieAnn Gibson, WilldaBeast Adams, Chachi Gonzales, Kasia Jukowska, Vale Merino, Sonali Bhadauria, FitDance, Kaelynn KK Harris, Twist And Pulse, D-trix and more will be featured. “#MoveWithMe” will encourage viewers to donate to support the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO during the event and is produced by Den of Thieves.
“Stream #WithMe (UK)” — Live stream premieres April 30
In “Stream #WithMe”, a star-studded crew of some of the UK’s most loved YouTube creators and stars let us in on how they are coping with the lockdown experience in a livestream celebration of solidarity. The all-star group of creators and celebrities will share tips on how to keep entertained, upbeat, and active as they tag-team their way through four hours of joyful unexpected performances and exciting challenges culminating in an almighty stunt for the nation. “Stream #WithMe” will encourage viewers to donate to support NHS Charities Together and is made in partnership with Electric Robin (part of EndemolShine UK).
“Celebrity Substitute” — Series premieres May 7
Around the world, millions of students are joining virtual classrooms as part of the current distance learning initiative and teachers are looking for ways to keep their students engaged and focused to stay on target with their curriculum. In this series, some of the brightest celebrities and educators come together to energize distance learning. In each episode, a celebrity steps in to teach crucial high school lessons with real teachers. Some examples include Karlie Kloss working through a coding problem, or Ken Jeong giving a biology lesson that will be remembered for years to come. Additional celebrity substitutes include: Bill Nye, Camila Mendes, Janelle Monáe, and Terry Crews. “Celebrity Substitute” is produced by B17 Entertainment.
“The Secret Life of Lele Pons” — Series premieres May 19
In this raw and intimate five-part series, internet personality and music artist Lele Pons shares a side to her that no one knows about… Her lifelong struggle with Tourette Syndrome and OCD. Viewers will follow along on her journey of building and expanding her music career while battling what was previously hidden. Link to official trailer HERE. “The Secret Life of Lele Pons” is a Shots Studios Production.
“BookTube – Read with Me Special and Mental Health Episode” — Premieres May 21 and June 2020
The critically-acclaimed monthly book club, “BookTube,” is creating a special “Read With Me” episode premiering May 21. Now more than ever, people around the world are turning to books to help them feel connected. This special episode will feature several celebrities, booktubers, and authors – including Melinda Gates, John Grisham, James Patterson, Elizabeth Gilbert, Nicholas Sparks, Elaine Welteroth, and many more – sharing their current book recommendations. Additionally, the June 2020 episode of “BookTube” will feature authors Dr. Vivek Murthy, former U.S. Surgeon General (author of Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World), Lori Gottlieb (author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone) and Haemin Sunim (author of The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down) discussing anxiety, mental health, and advice for self care during these uncertain times. “BookTube” is produced by Boardwalk Pictures.
“Create Together #WithMe” (working title) — Series premieres May 2020
This mini-series, hosted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, invites friends and families from all over the world who are coping with this unprecedented time of isolation to come together and showcase their creativity and collaboration. Rather than profiling lone artists and showcasing their finished work, each weekly episode will document the creative process as people find each other online and remotely collaborate on a variety of family friendly projects—short films, short documentaries, music videos, and more. Anybody can come be a part of the show on HITRECORD, Gordon-Levitt’s Emmy-winning platform for creative collaboration. “Create Together #WithMe” is produced by Brian Graden Media and HITRECORD.
“Locked Down” (working title) — Scripted series premieres May 2020
A social media mystery in a social distancing era! This scripted event series follows a group of bored teens working together online to solve a mystery involving one of their neighbors. Shot entirely via webcam and smartphone, “Locked Down” is a suspenseful look at how young people stay in touch while having to stay away, as well as what happens when boredom leads to suspicion. The story unfolds almost in real-time as the friend group works together – from a distance – to solve the mystery, while also exploring their own anxieties and frustrations about life during a pandemic. “Locked Down” is created and produced by Toronto-based Sinking Ship Entertainment (Dino Dana, Endlings, Odd Squad).
“Untitled Juanpa and Luisito Project” (LATAM) — Series premieres May 2020
Latin America’s top YouTube creators Juanpa Zurita (10.2M subscribers) and Luisito Communica (30.6M subscribers) come together for the first time to document an unprecedented situation (COVID-19 quarantine) in an unprecedented way. Filmed entirely under quarantine with no physical interaction, viewers will hear first hand personal stories from around the globe, including YouTube creators, health specialists, and everyday people as they reflect on their reality. Their challenges, their hopes, their solutions, their stories of inspiration and most importantly the resilience of human nature. This limited series will give a voice to individuals around the globe to unify us regardless of region or language. This project is produced by DW Entertainment & Media.
These new projects join a robust slate of learning, music and personality-focused original series and specials including “Kevin Hart: What the Fit,” (new episodes premiere each Thursday), YouTube Originals’ first beauty competition series, “Instant Influencer with James Charles” (premiering April 24), “TWICE: Seize the Light,” an 8-part docu-series on the K-pop girl group (premiering April 29 KST) and “Dude Perfect: Backstage Pass” chronicling the YouTube supergroup’s rise to fame (premiering May 11). Personality-driven projects including third seasons of hit scripted series “Cobra Kai” and “Liza on Demand,” “This is Paris” starring Paris Hilton and an unprecedented live event with David Blaine are scheduled to come later this year.
As part of YouTube Originals’ programming strategy, YouTube’s audience of two billion logged-in monthly users will continue to have the opportunity to enjoy new, upcoming original series and specials, focused on music, learning, personalities and kids & families, for free with ads. YouTube’s subscription service, YouTube Premium, will continue to offer ad-free access to all YouTube Originals as well as bingeabilty and exclusive content for select programs behind the paywall.
This news comes on the heels of YouTube’s recent announcements to release popular legacy and kids & family original content in front of the paywall, and the larger global initiative to encourage the world to stay home and save lives through the platform’s At Home #WithMe campaign. The campaign expands upon #WithMe — a trend continuing to grow on YouTube over the past 15 years — showcasing how people all around the world find community and engage with one another, especially during this time of crisis. From Emma Chamberlain, Markiplier and The Dolan Twins, to Karlie Kloss, Venus Williams, Sam Smith, Shawn Mendes, Hailee Steinfeld, J Balvin and many more, the campaign features YouTube creators, music artists, athletes and celebrities who have all made a home on YouTube.
The Four Rs of Responsibility, Part 2: Raising authoritative content and reducing borderline content and harmful misinformation
Our community guidelines set the rules of the road on YouTube, and a combination of people and machines help us remove more violative content than ever before. That said, there will always be content on YouTube that brushes up against our policies, but doesn’t quite cross the line. So over the past couple of years, we’ve been working to raise authoritative voices on YouTube and reduce the spread of borderline content and harmful misinformation. And we are already seeing great progress. Authoritative news is thriving on our site. And since January 2019, we’ve launched over 30 different changes to reduce recommendations of borderline content and harmful misinformation. The result is a 70% average drop in watch time of this content coming from non-subscribed recommendations in the U.S.1
Raising authoritative voices on YouTube
More and more people turn to YouTube to catch up on the latest news or simply learn more about the topics they’re curious about — whether it’s climate change or a natural disaster. For topics like music or entertainment, relevance, newness and popularity are most helpful to understand what people are interested in. But for subjects such as news, science and historical events, where accuracy and authoritativeness are key, the quality of information and context matter most — much more than engagement. That’s why we’ve re-doubled our efforts to raise authoritative sources to the top and introduced a suite of features to tackle this challenge holistically:
- Elevating authoritative sources in our systems: In 2017, we started to prioritize authoritative voices, including news sources like CNN, Fox News, Jovem Pan, India Today and the Guardian, for news and information queries in search results and “watch next” panels. Let’s say you’re looking to learn more about a newsworthy event. For example, try searching for “Brexit.” While there will be slight variations, on average, 93% of the videos in global top 10 results come from high-authority channels. Authoritativeness is also important for evergreen topics prone to misinformation, such as videos about vaccines. In these cases, we aim to surface videos from experts, like public health institutions, in search results. Millions of search queries are getting this treatment today and we’re continually expanding to more topics and countries.
- Providing reliable information faster for breaking news: Reliable information becomes especially critical as news is breaking. But as events are unfolding, it can take time to produce high-quality videos containing verified facts. So we’ve started providing short previews of text-based news articles in search results on YouTube, along with a reminder that breaking and developing news can rapidly change. We’ve also introduced Top News and Breaking News sections to highlight quality journalism. In fact, this year alone, we’ve seen that consumption on authoritative news partners’ channels has grown by 60 percent.
- Providing context to users: Sometimes a video alone does not provide enough context to viewers about what they are watching. We want to make sure that people who watch videos about topics prone to misinformation are provided additional information while viewing. To that end, we’ve designed a variety of information panels that target different types of context, such as general topics and recent news prone to misinformation, or about publishers themselves. For example, when people watch videos that encourage viewers to skip the MMR vaccine, we show information panels to provide more basic scientific context, linking to third-party sources. Or if people are viewing news videos uploaded by a public broadcaster or a government-funded news outlet, we show informational notices underneath the video about the news outlet. Collectively, we’ve delivered more than 3.5 billion impressions across all of these information panels since June 2018 and we’re expanding these panels to more and more countries.
Reducing borderline content and harmful misinformation
Content that comes close to — but doesn’t quite cross the line of — violating our Community Guidelines is a fraction of 1% of what’s watched on YouTube in the U.S. To give a quick comparison, meditation videos (a fairly narrow category) have more daily watch time than borderline and harmful misinformation combined. That said, even a fraction of a percent is too much. So this past January, we announced we’d begin reducing recommendations of borderline content or videos that could misinform users in harmful ways. This work is still ramping up and we’ve expanded to more countries outside of the U.S., including the UK, Ireland, South Africa and other English-language markets. And we have begun expanding this effort to non-English-language markets, starting with Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico and Spain.
So how does this actually work? Determining what is harmful misinformation or borderline is tricky, especially for the wide variety of videos that are on YouTube. We rely on external evaluators located around the world to provide critical input on the quality of a video. And these evaluators use public guidelines to guide their work. Each evaluated video receives up to 9 different opinions and some critical areas require certified experts. For example, medical doctors provide guidance on the validity of videos about specific medical treatments to limit the spread of medical misinformation. Based on the consensus input from the evaluators, we use well-tested machine learning systems to build models. These models help review hundreds of thousands of hours of videos every day in order to find and limit the spread of borderline content. And over time, the accuracy of these systems will continue to improve.
Our work continues. We are exploring options to bring in external researchers to study our systems and we will continue to invest in more teams and new features. Nothing is more important to us than ensuring we are living up to our responsibility. We remain focused on maintaining that delicate balance which allows diverse voices to flourish on YouTube — including those that others will disagree with — while also protecting viewers, creators and the wider ecosystem from harmful content.
[Read more] The Four Rs of Responsibility, Part 1: Removing harmful content
From the timeline:
July 27, 2015; https://youtube.googleblog.com/2015/07/youtube-comments.html
Sept 14, 2016; https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-news-initiative/digital-news-initiative-introducing/
July 20, 2017; https://youtube.googleblog.com/2017/07/bringing-new-redirect-method-features.html
Feb 2, 2018; https://youtube.googleblog.com/2018/02/greater-transparency-for-users-around.html
July 9, 2018; https://youtube.googleblog.com/2018/07/building-better-news-experience-on.html
July 9, 2018; https://youtube.googleblog.com/2018/07/building-better-news-experience-on.html
July 9, 2018; https://youtube.googleblog.com/2018/07/building-better-news-experience-on.html
March 7, 2019; https://india.googleblog.com/2019/04/bringing-greater-transparency-and.html
June 3, 2019; https://youtube.googleblog.com/2019/06/an-update-on-our-efforts-to-protect.html
June 5, 2019; https://youtube.googleblog.com/2019/06/our-ongoing-work-to-tackle-hate.html
July 8, 2019; https://youtube-creators.googleblog.com/2019/08/preserving-openness-through-responsibility.html
The Four Rs of Responsibility, Part 1: Removing harmful content
Over the next several months, we’ll provide more detail on the work supporting each of these principles. This first installment will focus on “Remove.” We’ve been removing harmful content since YouTube started, but our investment in this work has accelerated in recent years. Below is a snapshot of our most notable improvements since 2016. Because of this ongoing work, over the last 18 months we’ve reduced views on videos that are later removed for violating our policies by 80%, and we’re continuously working to reduce this number further.1
Developing policies for a global platform
Before we do the work of removing content that violates our policies, we have to make sure the line between what we remove and what we allow is drawn in the right place — with a goal of preserving free expression, while also protecting and promoting a vibrant community. To that end, we have a dedicated policy development team that systematically reviews all of our policies to ensure that they are current, keep our community safe, and do not stifle YouTube’s openness.
After reviewing a policy, we often discover that fundamental changes aren’t needed, but still uncover areas that are vague or confusing to the community. As a result, many updates are actually clarifications to our existing guidelines. For example, earlier this year we provided more detail about when we consider a “challenge” to be too dangerous for YouTube. Since 2018, we’ve made dozens of updates to our enforcement guidelines, many of them minor clarifications but some more substantive.
For particularly complex issues, we may spend several months developing a new policy. During this time we consult outside experts and YouTube creators to understand how our current policy is falling short, and consider regional differences to make sure proposed changes can be applied fairly around the world.
Our hate speech update represented one such fundamental shift in our policies. We spent months carefully developing the policy and working with our teams to create the necessary trainings and tools required to enforce it. The policy was launched in early June, and as our teams review and remove more content in line with the new policy, our machine detection will improve in tandem. Though it can take months for us to ramp up enforcement of a new policy, the profound impact of our hate speech policy update is already evident in the data released in this quarter’s Community Guidelines Enforcement Report:
The spikes in removal numbers are in part due to the removal of older comments, videos and channels that were previously permitted. In April 2019, we announced that we are also working to update our harassment policy, including creator-on-creator harassment. We’ll share our progress on this work in the coming months.
Using machines to flag bad content
Once we’ve defined a policy, we rely on a combination of people and technology to flag content for our review teams. We sometimes use hashes (or “digital fingerprints”) to catch copies of known violative content before they are ever made available to view. For some content, like child sexual abuse images (CSAI) and terrorist recruitment videos, we contribute to shared industry databases of hashes to increase the volume of content our machines can catch at upload.
In 2017, we expanded our use of machine learning technology to help detect potentially violative content and send it for human review. Machine learning is well-suited to detect patterns, which helps us to find content similar (but not exactly the same) to other content we’ve already removed, even before it’s ever viewed. These systems are particularly effective at flagging content that often looks the same — such as spam or adult content. Machines also can help to flag hate speech and other violative content, but these categories are highly dependent on context and highlight the importance of human review to make nuanced decisions. Still, over 87% of the 9 million videos we removed in the second quarter of 2019 were first flagged by our automated systems.
We’re investing significantly in these automated detection systems, and our engineering teams continue to update and improve them month by month. For example, an update to our spam detection systems in the second quarter of 2019 lead to a more than 50% increase in the number of channels we terminated for violating our spam policies.
Removing content before it’s widely viewed
We go to great lengths to make sure content that breaks our rules isn’t widely viewed, or even viewed at all, before it’s removed. As noted above, improvements in our automated flagging systems have helped us detect and review content even before it’s flagged by our community, and consequently more than 80% of those auto-flagged videos were removed before they received a single view in the second quarter of 2019.
We also recognize that the best way to quickly remove content is to anticipate problems before they emerge. In January of 2018 we launched our Intelligence Desk, a team that monitors the news, social media and user reports in order to detect new trends surrounding inappropriate content, and works to make sure our teams are prepared to address them before they can become a larger issue.
We’re determined to continue reducing exposure to videos that violate our policies. That’s why, across Google, we’ve tasked over 10,000 people with detecting, reviewing, and removing content that violates our guidelines.
For example, the nearly 30,000 videos we removed for hate speech over the last month generated just 3% of the views that knitting videos did over the same time period.
Last week we updated our Community Guidelines Enforcement Report, a quarterly report that provides additional insight into the amount of content we remove from YouTube, why it was removed, and how it was first detected. That report demonstrates how technology deployed over the last several years has helped us to remove harmful content from YouTube more quickly than ever before. It also highlights how human expertise is still a critical component of our enforcement efforts, as we work to develop thoughtful policies, review content with care, and responsibly deploy our machine learning technology.
2 Nov 16, 2016; https://youtube.googleblog.com/2016/11/more-parental-controls-available-in.html
2 June 18, 2017; https://www.blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/four-steps-were-taking-today-fight-online-terror/
2 July 31, 2017; https://youtube.googleblog.com/2017/07/global-internet-forum-to-counter.html
2 Aug 1, 2017; https://youtube.googleblog.com/2017/08/an-update-on-our-commitment-to-fight.html
2 Dec 4, 2017; https://youtube.googleblog.com/2017/12/expanding-our-work-against-abuse-of-our.html
2 April 23, 2018; https://youtube.googleblog.com/2018/04/more-information-faster-removals-more.html
2 Dec 1, 2018; https://youtube.googleblog.com/2019/06/an-update-on-our-efforts-to-protect.html
2 Jan 15, 2019; https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/1063296?hl=en
2 Feb 19, 2019; https://youtube-creators.googleblog.com/2019/02/making-our-strikes-system-clear-and.html
2 Feb 28, 2019; https://youtube-creators.googleblog.com/2019/02/more-updates-on-our-actions-related-to.html
2 June 5, 2019; https://youtube.googleblog.com/2019/06/our-ongoing-work-to-tackle-hate.html
2 July 1, 2019; https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/8830320
2 Aug 21, 2019; https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/12506319?hl=en
2 Coming soon; https://youtube.googleblog.com/2019/06/taking-harder-look-at-harassment.html
Updates to YouTube TV: More content and a new price
Two years ago, we launched YouTube TV to bring the best of live TV, delivered the way you want. Since then, we’ve been working to build a package that fits your needs. We expanded nationwide, added 10+ new channels, improved our DVR and launched new features to take your viewing experience to the next level.
As we continue to listen to you and build a best-in-class content and product experience, we have a few updates to share today.
We’ve been listening when you asked for the Discovery network brands. Today, we are excited to announce that we’re bringing eight of your favorite channels to YouTube TV: Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, and MotorTrend. We’ll also be adding OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network later this year. In addition, EPIX is now available for an additional charge.
This means that you’ll be able to follow along on the adventures of Sig Hansen and Captain Keith Colburn on “Deadliest Catch,” watch as Drew and Jonathan Scott create dream homes on “Property Brothers,” and celebrate as Randy Fenoli and the Kleinfeld crew help brides in “Say Yes to the Dress.” Add EPIX to watch Max Easton and his team at MI6 as they look to save the world on “Deep State,” or catch up on the earlier exploits of another British agent in “Moonraker.”
In keeping with our goal of giving you the content you want—when you want it—YouTube TV now includes 70+ networks, 6 accounts per household (each with its own unique recommendations and cloud DVR with no storage space limits), and 3 concurrent streams. It’s all included in the base cost of YouTube TV. We also provide complete local affiliate coverage, with local feeds from all of the four largest broadcasters in over 90% of the markets where YouTube TV is available, and three of four stations in all the rest. And you can watch YouTube TV on any screen—mobile devices, tablets, computers and TVs. We will continue to expand the list of supported devices.
To keep bringing you the best service possible, we’re updating our membership price to $ 49.99/month. The price for members billed through Apple will be $ 54.99/month. This new price takes effect today, April 10, for new members. Existing subscribers will see these changes reflected in their subsequent billing cycle after May 13.
Posted by Christian Oestlien, Vice President of Product Management, YouTube TV
Candy Crush Friends Saga gains Santa Yeti, Christmas Maps, and other festive-themed content
If Candy Crush Friends Saga is the game you love to play, you’ll be happy to find out that there is a ton of festive-themed content dropping in the run-up to Christmas Day. The additional content includes customizable outfits for your favorite characters such as Yeti Santa or Misty Reindeer, Christmas maps, and the “Santa […]
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First ‘State of Decay 2’ content update adds stealthy crossbows
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New tools for parents and content for older kids in the YouTube Kids app
We believe that no two families are the same — and that their needs are ever-changing as they grow up. That’s why we are committed to building YouTube Kids in a way that offers kids the content they love and grown-ups the tools to customize the app as they see fit. Today we’re excited to launch two updates we think families will really enjoy: parent-approved content and a new experience for older kids.
First, we’re following up on our April announcement and sharing that we’ve launched parent-approved content. This highly requested parental control allows parents to handpick every video and channel available to their child in the app. It is available today globally on Android and coming soon to iOS.
For parents who want to enable this feature, open settings, go to the child’s profile and select “approved content only.” Now they’re ready to start picking videos for their kids.
Parents can choose any video, channel or collection of channels they like by tapping the “+” button. Parents can also search for a specific creator or video. If parents choose to enable this mode, their kids will not be able to search for content on their own.
We work hard to make videos in the app family friendly, but no system is perfect. It’s always possible that a parent may find something they don’t want their child to watch in the “Younger” or “Older” experiences. If this happens, we ask that parents block and flag the video for review by our team. This makes YouTube Kids better for everyone.
As we continue to receive feedback from parents and turn that feedback into improvements to the YouTube Kids app, we hope that all families and kids can create the experience they want!
Happy watching from our family to yours,
James Beser, Product Director for YouTube Kids, recently viewed “Water Bottle Flip 2” from Dude Perfect
Netflix and Amazon will have to make more European content by law
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Twitch nixes Communities, adds tags to improve content discovery
Video game streaming service Twitch launched Communities in February of last year. These were ostensibly hub page for specific games or topics that members could create to help people find content. Now the company will shut these pages down mid-Septe…
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Sling TV reorganizes, will offer a new free tier and more on-demand content
The market of internet streaming TV is getting more and more competitive every day, but it’s pretty safe to say Sling TV kickstarted the entire concept. There’s a few more services to choose from today, whether we’re talking about PlayStation Vue, DirecTV Now, or any of the other smaller, more specific bundles, but Sling TV […]
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Instagram’s “Data Download” tool lets you save offline copies of your content
Instagram announced a couple of weeks ago that it would soon introduce a tool so users could download their information, similar to how Facebook users can. True to its word, Instagram has announced the availability of the tool that allows users to download their photos, videos, profile, info, comments, and archived Stories. The “Data Download” […]
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Snap announces more layoffs amid content struggles
Snap has just laid off 22 employees, a sign that the company is continuing to struggle with slow user growth. The staff cuts affected teams across the company, but the content team was particularly hard hit. According to The Information, Snap's conte…
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YouTube may review its most popular channels for offensive content
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Tidal’s free 12-day trial comes with new content each day
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An update on our commitment to fight violent extremist content online
In June, we announced four steps we’re taking to combat terrorist content on YouTube:
- Better detection and faster removal powered by machine learning;
- More expert partners to help identify violative content;
- Tougher standards for videos that are controversial but do not violate our policies; and
- Amplified voices speaking out against hate and extremism.
We shared our progress across these steps in August and wanted to update you again on where things are today.
Better detection and faster removal
We’ve always used a mix of human flagging and human review together with technology to address controversial content on YouTube. In June, we introduced machine learning to flag violent extremism content and escalate it for human review. We continue to get faster here:
- Over 83 percent of the videos we removed for violent extremism in the last month were taken down before receiving a single human flag, up 8 percentage points since August.
- Our teams have manually reviewed over a million videos to improve this flagging technology by providing large volumes of training examples.
Inevitably, both humans and machines make mistakes, and as we have increased the volume of videos for review by our teams, we have made some errors. We know we can get better and we are committed to making sure our teams are taking action on the right content. We are working on ways to educate those who share video meant to document or expose violence on how to add necessary context.
More experts
Outside experts are essential to advising us on our policies and flagging content for additional inputs that better train our systems. Our partner NGOs bring expert knowledge of complex issues like hate speech, radicalization, and terrorism.
We have added 35 NGOs to our Trusted Flagger program, which is 70 percent of the way towards our goal. These new partner NGOs represent 20 different countries and include NGOs like the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College London and The Wahid Institute in Indonesia, which is dedicated to promoting religious freedom and tolerance.
Tougher standards
We started applying tougher treatment to videos that aren’t illegal and don’t violate our Guidelines, but contain controversial religious or supremacist content. These videos remain on YouTube, but they are behind a warning interstitial, aren’t recommended, monetized, and don’t have key features including comments, suggested videos, and likes. This is working as intended and helping us strike a balance between upholding free expression, by providing a historical record of content in the public interest, while also keeping these videos from being widely spread or recommended to others.
Amplify voices speaking out against hate and extremism
We continue to support programs that counter extremist messages. We are researching expansion for Jigsaw’s Redirect Method to apply this model to new languages and search terms. We’re heavily investing in our YouTube Creators for Change program to support Creators who are using YouTube to tackle social issues and promote awareness, tolerance and empathy. Every month these Creators release exciting and engaging new videos and campaigns to counter hate and social divisiveness:
- In September, three of our fellows, from Australia, the U.K., and the U.S., debuted their videos on the big screen at the Tribeca TV festival, tackling topics like racism, xenophobia, and experiences of first generation immigrants.
- Local YouTube Creators in Indonesia partnered with the MAARIF Institute and YouTube Creators for Change Ambassador, Cameo Project, to visit ten different cities and train thousands of high school students on promoting tolerance and speaking out against hate speech and extremism.
- We’re adding two new local Creators for Change chapters, in Israel and Spain, to the network of chapters around the world.
In addition to this work supporting voices to counter hate and extremism, last month Google.org announced a $ 5 million innovation fund to counter hate and extremism. This funding will support technology-driven solutions, as well as grassroots efforts like community youth projects that help build communities and promote resistance to radicalization.
Terrorist and violent extremist material should not be spread online. We will continue to heavily invest to fight the spread of this content, provide updates to governments, and collaborate with other companies through the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism. There remains more to do so we look forward to continuing to share our progress with you.
The YouTube Team
An update on our commitment to fight terror content online
A little over a month ago, we told you about the four new steps we’re taking to combat terrorist content on YouTube: better detection and faster removal driven by machine learning, more experts to alert us to content that needs review, tougher standards for videos that are controversial but do not violate our policies, and more work in the counter-terrorism space.
We wanted to give you an update on these commitments:
Better detection and faster removal driven by machine learning: We’ve always used a mix of technology and human review to address the ever-changing challenges around controversial content on YouTube. We recently began developing and implementing cutting-edge machine learning technology designed to help us identify and remove violent extremism and terrorism-related content in a scalable way. We have started rolling out these tools and we are already seeing some positive progress:
- Speed and efficiency: Our machine learning systems are faster and more effective than ever before. Over 75 percent of the videos we’ve removed for violent extremism over the past month were taken down before receiving a single human flag.
- Accuracy: The accuracy of our systems has improved dramatically due to our machine learning technology. While these tools aren’t perfect, and aren’t right for every setting, in many cases our systems have proven more accurate than humans at flagging videos that need to be removed.
- Scale: With over 400 hours of content uploaded to YouTube every minute, finding and taking action on violent extremist content poses a significant challenge. But over the past month, our initial use of machine learning has more than doubled both the number of videos we’ve removed for violent extremism, as well as the rate at which we’ve taken this kind of content down.
We are encouraged by these improvements, and will continue to develop our technology in order to make even more progress. We are also hiring more people to help review and enforce our policies, and will continue to invest in technical resources to keep pace with these issues and address them responsibly.
More experts: Of course, our systems are only as good as the the data they’re based on. Over the past weeks, we have begun working with more than 15 additional expert NGOs and institutions through our Trusted Flagger program, including the Anti-Defamation League, the No Hate Speech Movement, and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. These organizations bring expert knowledge of complex issues like hate speech, radicalization, and terrorism that will help us better identify content that is being used to radicalize and recruit extremists. We will also regularly consult these experts as we update our policies to reflect new trends. And we’ll continue to add more organizations to our network of advisors over time.
Tougher standards: We’ll soon be applying tougher treatment to videos that aren’t illegal but have been flagged by users as potential violations of our policies on hate speech and violent extremism. If we find that these videos don’t violate our policies but contain controversial religious or supremacist content, they will be placed in a limited state. The videos will remain on YouTube behind an interstitial, won’t be recommended, won’t be monetized, and won’t have key features including comments, suggested videos, and likes. We’ll begin to roll this new treatment out to videos on desktop versions of YouTube in the coming weeks, and will bring it to mobile experiences soon thereafter. These new approaches entail significant new internal tools and processes, and will take time to fully implement.
Early intervention and expanding counter-extremism work: We’ve started rolling out features from Jigsaw’s Redirect Method to YouTube. When people search for sensitive keywords on YouTube, they will be redirected towards a playlist of curated YouTube videos that directly confront and debunk violent extremist messages. We also continue to amplify YouTube voices speaking out against hate and radicalization through our YouTube Creators for Change program. Just last week, the U.K. chapter of Creators for Change, Internet Citizens, hosted a two-day workshop for 13-18 year-olds to help them find a positive sense of belonging online and learn skills on how to participate safely and responsibly on the internet. We also pledged to expand the program’s reach to 20,000 more teens across the U.K.
And over the weekend, we hosted our latest Creators for Change workshop in Bandung, Indonesia, where creators teamed up with Indonesia’s Maarif Institute to teach young people about the importance of diversity, pluralism, and tolerance.
Altogether, we have taken significant steps over the last month in our fight against online terrorism. But this is not the end. We know there is always more work to be done. With the help of new machine learning technology, deep partnerships, ongoing collaborations with other companies through the Global Internet Forum, and our vigilant community we are confident we can continue to make progress against this ever-changing threat. We look forward to sharing more with you in the months ahead.
The YouTube Team
Virtual reality content startup Jaunt lands on PlayStation VR
The PlayStation VR just got some additional content via the recently announced app launch by Jaunt. The platform will have instant access to 150 cinematic titles from the startup. The app includes videos like the award-winning animation Invasion, CBS…
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Top-trending Google Play content of 2016 includes Deadpool, Harry Potter
Google’s giving presents a little early this year — the company announced the best apps, books, movies, and shows of 2016 on Google Play. The winners represent global top-trending content and they span six categories,
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Vrse rebrands to Within, aspires to be the HBO of virtual-reality content
Vrse, the company behind much prominent virtual reality content from partners like the New York Times, is rebranding to Within. The company’s goal is to become the HBO of virtual reality content.
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Tweens rejoice! Amazon’s FreeTime Unlimited now has a slew of content for ages 9-12
Older kids can now enjoy Amazon’s FreeTime Unlimited just as much as their younger siblings. Amazon has updated the service to offer older kids, aged 9-12, over 13,000 videos, books, games, and more.
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BBC opens up iPlayer to outside content for the first time
Last September, the BBC put forward a number of proposals to make iPlayer and the rest of its broadcasting services more "open" and distinctive. One of these was a pledge to allow other people and broadcasters to distribute their programming through…
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Use your fingerprint to lock your content with Wiko’s uFeel
Wiko is a French startup that has been offering lower-budget phones for the past five years. It’s more recent announcement of smartphones have some distinguishing fun features enabled with a fingerprint sensor.
The post Use your fingerprint to lock your content with Wiko's uFeel appeared first on Digital Trends.
Sky’s Now TV app brings more UK content to Apple TV
While the new Apple TV has been available to order for over a week, UK-centric apps have been a bit thin on the ground. Less than a week after the BBC confirmed that iPlayer is coming to the streamer, Sky has gone one better and released an app for…
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ESPN is no longer displaying content on YouTube
YouTube Red was announced this past week and may have left a few providers unsatisfied. ESPN being one of them.
Due to the creation of YouTube Red, ESPN will apparently no longer provide content on YouTube. This is reportedly due to rights and legal issues. However, Disney, the parent company of ESPN, just signed a deal that will include its content on YouTube Red. Which is kind of strange. Unfortunately those are all the details we have right now. Here’s the official statement made by ESPN regarding the service:
“ESPN is not currently part of the Red service. Content previously available on the free YouTube service will be available across ESPN digital properties”
Source: Mobile Reuters
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YouTube Kids app update helps parents tackle dodgy content
Google touts it as a “family friendly” app but since YouTube Kids’ launch in February a number of consumer groups have been complaining about inappropriate content on the service. Google says a new update aims to tackle ongoing concerns about the app.
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New original content from top YouTube creators
At YouTube, we have a core belief: we only succeed if our creators do.
After launching the Creator Hub to help creators get the most out of YouTube from anywhere in the world and opening YouTube Spaces in the U.S., the U.K., Japan and Brazil, we decided to take an even bolder step to invest in ambitious projects from our top creators. Today, we’re announcing partnerships with four top creators to help bring their next big original series to life on YouTube:
- Since launching their first YouTube channel in 2007, the Fine Brothers’ channels have amassed over 17 million subscribers and over 3 billion views as well as earning a Daytime Emmy. They’ll continue the hot streak with their new scripted comedy series that takes a satirical look at the world of singing competition shows, produced in partnership with Mandeville Films.
- For six years, Prank vs. Prank have waged an epic prank war on each other in front of an audience of nearly 14 million subscribers and generated nearly 3 billion views on their two channels. In their forthcoming series, celebrity guests join Jesse and Jeana to pull off their most ambitious pranks yet.
- Joey Graceffa has built a devoted fan following of over 5 million subscribers, cumed over 600 million views and earned two Teen Choice nominations through his channels’ daily vlogs, scripted series and short films. Now Joey will lead an all-star cast of YouTubers in his all-new murder mystery reality series.
- For a decade, Smosh has entertained a YouTube fanbase of over 35 million subscribers across their channels with comedy sketches that have generated over 7 billion views. In their new comedy series, we’ll see Ian and Anthony working at a theme restaurant where out-of-control kids and crazy parents are all in a day’s work.
We’re also excited to announce a new collaboration between YouTube and AwesomenessTV. Together, we’ll release several feature length films over the next two years, all driven by YouTube stars and developed and produced by AwesomenessTV’s Brian Robbins. The films will all premiere globally on YouTube before they become available elsewhere, setting what we believe will become a new distribution paradigm for years to come. We hope to release our first film this fall, with more details to come soon.
We hope that these new series and feature films, as well as those that follow, give top creators a new way to showcase their talent to fans on YouTube.
Alex Carloss, Head of YouTube Originals recently watched “Me at the zoo.”