This week, our Chief Product Officer, Neal Mohan, spoke with Emily Maitlis at Zeitgeist 2022 in London about YouTube’s efforts to combat misinformation during world-changing moments.

They discussed the significance of YouTube being the last major platform available in Russia and the steps YouTube has taken to combat misinformation during the war in Ukraine. They also talked about YouTube’s responsibility efforts throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and why our commitment to raising authoritative voices during difficult moments is more important now than ever.

We’re sharing a few highlights from Neal and Emily’s conversation, and over the coming months we’ll continue to shed light into YouTube’s ongoing efforts to raise up authoritative voices and protect our community from harm.

Dealing with misinformation during the war in Ukraine

"There is no responsibility more important than making sure that when people are looking for news — looking for information to protect themselves and their families — that they get high-quality, highly-credible information.”

Being the last major platform available in Russia

“Our first order principle is to live up to our Community Guidelines… and we have not compromised in terms of how we enforce our policies.”

Dealing with COVID-19 misinformation

“Our approach has been to rely as much as we can on health authorities, whether they're national health authorities — like the NIH, the CDC back in the States or the World Health Organization — as they developed their approach to things like masks, or what type of cures are harmful versus not.”

An open platform with Community Guidelines

“The open platform is really the power of YouTube — and we’ve always had a robust set of Community Guidelines, which we have had to evolve as YouTube has evolved.”