YouTube expands topical information panels in the Philippines

As part of its continued efforts to help fight misinformation and bring greater transparency and context for content on the platform, YouTube today announced the expansion of its information panel giving topical context in the Philippines. 

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Starting today, in addition to the COVID-19 information panels, people in the Philippines will begin to see information from third party sources, such as Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica, alongside videos on a number of well-established topics that can be prone to misinformation. Some of these topics include climate change, the 9/11 attacks, the Holocaust, the Apollo moon landing, and Martial Law in the Philippines among many others. 

The launch of the information panel giving topical context in the Philippines builds on the existing portfolio of features that YouTube launched in the country, aimed at raising authoritative information that is essential to viewers, especially during fast-moving, breaking news events. These include Top News and Breaking News shelves, information panels that indicate funding sources from publishers that receive public or government funding, and information panels for COVID-19. 

Bernadette Nacario, Country Director of Google Philippines said, “YouTube believes that people should be able to choose and make their own judgments about the information they consume along with context to inform their judgments. The expansion of YouTube’s information panels providing topical context to the Philippines is a critical next step to connect people with additional context. This has been an ongoing investment for YouTube as it continues efforts to raise authoritative information.”

The information panel giving topical context will appear regardless of the opinions and perspectives expressed in the video, on both search results and watch pages when people search for topics on YouTube that are prone to misinformation. As the feature initially rolls out in the Philippines, panels may not appear immediately on some content, and we’ll work to correct issues over time.
YouTube first launched the information panel giving topical context in 2018 and is currently available in many countries around the world including Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, the UK, and the US.