Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

YouTube aims to ‘protect’ elections by CENSORING what it deems to be ‘hacked materials’

YouTube aims to ‘protect’ elections by CENSORING what it deems to be ‘hacked materials’

YouTube will remove videos containing “hacked information” about election candidates if it deems them aimed at election meddling. The censorship is supposedly needed to protect the integrity of democratic institutions in the US.

The Google-owned video platform explained on Thursday how it intends to protect users from malign actors during election campaigns and allow apparently benign actors to better engage with voters. Among other things, YouTube will delete videos that contain “hacked information, the disclosure of which may interfere with democratic processes such as elections and censuses,” Leslie Miller, Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy, wrote in the corporate blog.

Publishing truthful content obtained illegally apparently falls into YouTube’s category of “deceptive practices”. But the platform doesn’t explain how it will distinguish videos shared to meddle in elections from those meant to inform the public about misdeeds of candidates running for public office.

The First Amendment would normally protect publishers of material representing the public interest, even if it had been stolen. However, YouTube is privately owned, so not bound by freedom of speech legislation, as it successfully proved in a legal battle against conservative non-profit PragerU that was concluded in February this year.




Last month, Google agreed to ban any ad from its platform that links to or promotes hacked political material. This decision was taken as part of the company’s election policies and will come into force from September.

Big tech companies came under fire after the 2016 US presidential election, over claims that Russia had used their platforms to interfere with the vote. Consequently, they’ve been working hard to prove they won’t allow this to happen again. Twitter, Facebook and Google now regularly report that they’ve purged accounts for allegedly running influence campaigns on behalf of foreign governments, and routinely root out political content they perceive as problematic.

Leaks of stolen Democratic emails, which were published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign, are a major part of the “Russian meddling” narrative. The files exposed how senior Democratic Party officials acted in league with the Hillary Clinton campaign against Bernie Sanders, her challenger during the primaries.

Both Moscow and WikiLeaks denied collaborating to release the emails. The alleged hacking that was the source of the leak was never proven in court.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
×