CISS Affiliate Michelle Amazeen Discusses What We Lose When We Stop Regulating Information
Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that YouTube has quietly rolled back some of its content moderation policies.
The Times noted that the video platform, the second-most-visited website in the world behind Google, has upped its threshold for how much potentially prohibited content a video can contain before it warrants removal, as long as the video is in the public interest. Public interest includes videos that are deemed newsworthy or discuss political and cultural issues. Potentially prohibited content includes derogatory language and misinformation.
Prior to the policy change, a YouTube video could contain only a quarter of questionable content before warranting removal. Now, the threshold has been raised to half a video’s content. The change—which was not publicly disclosed—took effect in December 2024.
BU Today spoke with Michelle Amazeen, a Boston University College of Communication associate professor of mass communication and associate dean of research (CISS Affiliate), about YouTube’s decision to loosen rules governing the moderation of videos.
To read more, visit BU Today where this article originally appeared on June 11, 2025.