YouTube reaffirms its commitment to creators and the protection of users in MENA

(Shutterstock)
Short Url
Updated 24 February 2022
Follow

YouTube reaffirms its commitment to creators and the protection of users in MENA

  • Tarek Amin, head of the platform in the region, said “content creators are the heart of YouTube” and management is committed to the safety of its community

DUBAI: YouTube reaffirmed its commitment to creators and users in the Middle East and North Africa region during a virtual event this week.

“With over 500 hours of content uploaded to YouTube every minute, creators around the world are able to share their voices and stories with the 2 billion monthly users that are on YouTube. And that’s no different in MENA,” said Tarek Amin, the head of YouTube MENA, who led the event. 

Citing a host of statistics to illustrate the importance to YouTube of content creators in the region, he said two in five Egyptians use YouTube; more 80 percent of adults surveyed in Saudi Arabia agreed that they find useful tips on YouTube that help them learn new things; and 77 percent of people in MENA have used YouTube to learn a new skill.

Amin said that “content creators are the heart of YouTube” and the platform is committed to supporting the creative economy in the region. The efforts it is making to do this are evident in the results, he said: As of June 2021, channels making six figures or more in local-currency revenues increased by 40 percent year-on-year in the UAE and 20 percent in Saudi Arabia.

“With our commitment to users and creators comes our responsibility, which is integral to our mission,” he added.

The top priority of management, he said, is protecting the YouTube community by focusing on the “four Rs:” removing content that violates the rules; raising authoritative content; rewarding trusted, eligible creators; and reducing the spread of borderline content. 

YouTube uses a combination of automated systems and thousands of human reviewers to identify and remove content that breaks its rules. Machine-learning systems help to find and review content at scale, while human reviewers make context-based decisions, Amin said.

Between September and December 2021, 92 percent of videos that were removed were first identified by automated systems. Of these, 74 percent had fewer than 10 views and 32 percent had no views at all.

“This shows that our machine-learning classifiers were able to take action against violative videos before their impact was felt on YouTube,” said Amin.

FAST FACTS

• 2 in 5 Egyptians use YouTube.

• More than 80 percent of adults surveyed in Saudi Arabia agreed that the found useful tips on YouTube that helped them learn new things.

• 77 percent of people polled in MENA have used YouTube to learn a new skill.

• Between September and December 2021, 92 percent of videos that were removed were identified by YouTube’s automated systems.

For topics such as news, science and historical events, he added, “accuracy and authoritativeness are key,” which is why the platform is prioritizing not only the quality of information but also adding context. For example, when someone searches for topics related to COVID-19, YouTube provides additional context through information panels linking to information from the World Health Organization.

When it comes to “borderline content,” which YouTube defines as content that pushed the boundaries of what is acceptable but does not violate community guidelines, the platform enlists the help of external evaluators. Each video evaluated in this way receives up to nine varying opinions, with some subjects requiring certified experts.

“The results are then combined to give a score for how likely it is the video contains harmful misinformation or is borderline,” Amin said. “Any video classified as borderline is demoted in recommendations.”

YouTube’s policies are developed with input from a wide range of experts. The policies apply to advertisers as much as users and the platform can revoke the ability to run adverts on YouTube if they fail to comply with the policies.

“Protecting our community on our platform will remain our utmost priority,” Amin said. “This is why we’ll continue to invest in systems to ensure better enforcement of the 4 Rs.

“We’ll also continue to adapt our policies to meet the internet’s evolving nature and people’s expectations and to ensure they’re effective in the face of new developments.”


Twitch adds ‘Zionist’ to hate speech policy amid war tensions

Updated 18 November 2024
Follow

Twitch adds ‘Zionist’ to hate speech policy amid war tensions

  • Amazon-owned streaming platform said term will still be allowed in discussions about political movement as long as they do not target individuals
  • Decision follows pressure by US lawmakers and ADL, who accuse Twitch of failing to curb antisemitism on its platform

LONDON: Streaming platform Twitch has updated its hate speech policy to include the term “Zionist” as a potential slur, reflecting heightened sensitivity in online moderation amid escalating tensions stemming from Israel’s war on Gaza and Lebanon.

“Starting today, using the term ‘Zionist’ to attack or demean another individual or group of people on the basis of their background or religious belief is against our rules,” Twitch, owned by Amazon, announced in a blog post.

The platform, widely popular among video gamers, clarified that as “Zionist” and “Zionism” are political terms, they will still be allowed in discussions about the political movement, whether supportive or critical, provided the language does not target individuals.

“Our goal isn’t to stifle conversation about or criticism of an institution or ideology, but to prevent coded hate directed at individuals and groups of people,” the company said.

The policy update comes amid a spike in hateful content on social media platforms following the Oct. 7 attacks.

A report released in June by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue highlighted alarming increases in antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric online, including a 51-fold surge in antisemitic comments on YouTube and a 422 percent rise in anti-Muslim hate speech on X.

Twitch’s move follows pressure from US Congressman Ritchie Torres and the Anti-Defamation League.

In a letter to Twitch executives, Torres criticized the platform’s handling of hate speech, singling out prominent Turkish-American streamer Hasan Piker as a “poster child” for what he described as “terrorism apologist” comments following the Oct. 7 events.

Torres, who recently secured re-election with significant support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, accused Twitch of failing to adequately address antisemitic content and called for stricter moderation.

Twitch’s announcement aligns it with other platforms tightening their moderation policies.

In July, Meta began removing posts targeting “Zionists” when the term was used to demean Jewish people or Israelis, rather than in reference to the political movement.

This step followed allegations that Meta mishandled pro-Palestinian content, including findings from an Arab News investigation last year.


Netflix says 50 million households worldwide tuned in for Paul-Tyson match

Updated 17 November 2024
Follow

Netflix says 50 million households worldwide tuned in for Paul-Tyson match

Netflix said on Saturday that 60 million households worldwide had tuned in for the highly anticipated boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, and the event peaked at 65 million streams, according to a statement.
The bout between the 27-year-old social media influencer-turned-prize fighter Paul and the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Tyson, which Paul won, was streamed live on Netflix.
Nearly 50 million households tuned in for the co-main event between Ireland’s lightweight champion Katie Taylor and Puerto Rico’s featherweight champion Amanda Serrano, according to Netflix.
“The bout is likely to be the most watched professional women’s sporting event in US history,” Netflix said in its statement.
There were some hiccups during the live-stream of the match, with over 90,000 users reporting problems on Netflix at its peak, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.
However, the streaming platform was back up on Saturday after the outage that lasted roughly 6 hours in the United States.


Renowned Lebanese journalist quits MTV over death threats by alleged Hezbollah supporters

Updated 16 November 2024
Follow

Renowned Lebanese journalist quits MTV over death threats by alleged Hezbollah supporters

  • ‘I decided to leave MTV because of the intimidations that reached the point of death threats,’ says Dr. Eman Shweikh on X
  • Samir Kassir Eyes Center reports that since Nov. 12 Shweikh had been subjected to a campaign of threats, incitement, accusations of treason

DUBAI: A renowned Lebanese journalist has taken to social media platform X to announce her departure from MTV following alleged death threats believed to have been made by supporters of Hezbollah.
Not mentioning the Iran-backed group by name, Dr. Eman Shweikh, a TV presenter at MTV, journalist and university professor, wrote: “I decided to leave MTV because of the intimidations that reached the point of death threats and the harassment that I am exposed to, which reached the point of following me home and chasing me on the road, in addition to harassing my family.”
The Samir Kassir Eyes Center reported that since Nov. 12 Shweikh had been subjected to a campaign of threats, incitement and accusations of treason due to her political opinions that she publishes on X, and because of her work for MTV.
The purported threats and harassment prompted her to leave her job at the channel.
The TV presenter added in her tweet: “The (Lebanese) state is absent, and laws are inexistent, and I do not want to expose my life and the lives of my family to danger. I want to live in safety and peace. Thank you to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of MTV Michel Murr.”
Shweikh’s tweet received thousands of likes and hundreds of retweets and comments.
Replying to her tweet, advocate Tarek Chindeb said: “The threat to kill journalist Eman Shweikh makes us believe at every moment that we cannot build a state in Lebanon in the presence of illegal weapons and militias outside accountability.”
Expressing solidarity, Chindeb hoped that the Lebanese security and judicial authorities would do their duty to protect her, and arrest the culprits.
Political analyst Magdi Khalil also replied to Shweikh’s tweet, saying: “Ideological militias do not know participation, but rather overpowering. They do not know dialogue, but rather the threat of violence.”
MTV journalist Nawal Berry and cameraman Dany Tanios were attacked in July while attempting to cover the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburb, a Hezbollah stronghold.
It was not the first time Berry and her team had been assaulted by Hezbollah loyalists. During the early days of the Oct. 17 revolution in 2019, she and her team faced a violent attack and had their camera smashed.
Supporters of Hezbollah have a history of assaulting and threatening journalists. Targets have included Layal Alekhtiar, who received death threats in 2021 and faced legal action last year for interviewing an Israeli spokesperson; Dima Sadek; Ali Al-Amin; and others.
At the time of publishing, Shweikh could not be reached for comment.


What is Bluesky, the fast-growing social platform welcoming fleeing X users?

Updated 16 November 2024
Follow

What is Bluesky, the fast-growing social platform welcoming fleeing X users?

  • Bluesky said in mid-November that its total users surged to 15 million, up from roughly 13 million at the end of October, as some X users look for an alternative platform to post their thoughts and talk to others online

SAN FRANCISCO: Disgruntled X users are again flocking to Bluesky, a newer social media platform that grew out of the former Twitter before billionaire Elon Musk took it over in 2022. While it remains small compared to established online spaces such as X, it has emerged as an alternative for those looking for a different mood, lighter and friendlier and less influenced by Musk.
What is Bluesky?
Championed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Bluesky was an invitation-only space until it opened to the public in February. That invite-only period gave the site time to build out moderation tools and other features. The platform resembles Musk’s X, with a “discover” feed and a chronological feed for accounts that users follow. Users can send direct messages and pin posts, as well as find “starter packs” that provide a curated list of people and custom feeds to follow.
Why is Bluesky growing?
Bluesky said in mid-November that its total users surged to 15 million, up from roughly 13 million at the end of October, as some X users look for an alternative platform to post their thoughts and talk to others online. The post-election uptick in users isn’t the first time Bluesky has benefited from people leaving X. The platform gained 2.6 million users in the week after X was banned in Brazil in August — 85 percent of them from Brazil, the company said. About 500,000 new users signed up in one day in October, when X signaled that blocked accounts would be able to see a user’s public posts.
Across the platform, new users — among them journalists, left-leaning politicians and celebrities — have posted memes and shared that they were looking forward to using a space free from advertisements and hate speech. Some said it reminded them of the early days of Twitter more than a decade ago.
Despite Bluesky’s growth, X posted after the election that it had “dominated the global conversation on the US election” and had set new records.
Beyond social networking
Bluesky, though, has bigger ambitions than to supplant X. Beyond the platform itself, it is building a technical foundation — what it calls “a protocol for public conversation” — that could make social networks work across different platforms — also known as interoperability — like email, blogs or phone numbers.
Currently, you can’t cross between social platforms to leave a comment on someone’s account. Twitter users must stay on Twitter and TikTok users must stay on TikTok if they want to interact with accounts on those services. Big Tech companies have largely built moats around their online properties, which helps serve their advertising-focused business models.
Bluesky is trying to reimagine all of this and working toward interoperability.

 


Media group IMI and UAE Media Council sign deal to recruit and train local talent

Updated 14 November 2024
Follow

Media group IMI and UAE Media Council sign deal to recruit and train local talent

  • Collaboration is part of the Media Apprenticeship Program launched last year by the Media Council and the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council
  • It targets existing Emirati media professionals, as well as graduates and final-year students in media-related studies

DUBAI: IMI, a media group in the UAE formerly known as International Media Investments, has signed a cooperation agreement with the UAE Media Council to train and recruit local talent and develop media infrastructure in the country.

The initiative is part of the Media Apprenticeship Program, an initiative launched in May 2023 by the UAE Media Council and the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council. It targets existing Emirati media professionals, as well as graduates and final-year students in media-related studies, with the aim of developing the next generation of talent in the nation’s media sector.

The agreement was signed at IMI’s new headquarters in Abu Dhabi by Mohammed Saeed Al-Shehhi, secretary-general of the UAE Media Council, and Rani Raad, CEO of the recently rebranded IMI Group, which owns several news outlets including Sky News Arabia, The National newspaper, Al-Ain News and CNN Business Arabic.

“We are proud to be the first global media group in the UAE to partner with the UAE Media Council on this initiative,” said Raad.

IMI Group, he added, can offer “aspiring Emirati talent unique opportunities to learn about the best media assets and standards” through its network of companies and the IMI Media Academy.

Launched in September, the IMI Media Academy employs the latest learning methodologies and offers an advanced curriculum focusing on the media industry, journalism and content creation.

Al-Shehhi highlighted the need to forge stronger partnerships with private media companies, and for cohesive country-wide efforts to develop the sector.

He said the partnership with IMI demonstrates the Media Council’s “commitment to empowering the media sector to attain global leadership by investing in the development of national skills and talents and equipping them with the latest media tools and technologies.”

It also aligns with the council’s desire “to nurture a new generation of talents capable of spearheading the sector and achieving significant accomplishments in the future,” he added.