YouTube has changed its internal moderation rules, allowing videos that partially violate its rules to remain online if they are deemed to be of public importance, The New York Times reports, citing internal platform materials.
According to the updated guidelines, moderators must leave videos that violate the rules by less than 50% (previously - 25%) if the topic is of public importance. YouTube includes such topics as elections, ideologies, race, gender, abortion, immigration, censorship, etc. Moderators are also advised to contact management in controversial cases instead of immediately removing content.
These changes build on a policy introduced ahead of the 2024 US election that allows videos of politicians to be left up, even if they violate the rules, as long as the content is educational, documentary, or artistic (EDSA).
YouTube explained that it is updating its policies to better accommodate new formats — including long-form podcasts — and community feedback. A spokesperson also emphasized that the EDSA exemptions only apply to a small portion of content.
The update comes as other social media platforms have loosened moderation following Donald Trump's election victory. Meta, in particular, has refused to accept third-party fact-checking. At the same time, Google, which owns YouTube, is under pressure from antitrust investigations by the US Department of Justice.
The New York Times cites examples of videos that remained on the platform under the new rules, including content containing vaccine misinformation and offensive language, which it deemed to have "high value for free expression."