Meta and YouTube to revise policies to curb online extremism

U.S. President Joe Biden called on Americans to combat racism and extremism

Major tech companies like Meta and YouTube are looking to take fresh steps to combat online extremism by working towards removing violent content. They are also looking at increasing media literacy especially with young users as part of a White House Summit on combating violence. Platforms like Meta Platforms' Facebook and Alphabet's YouTube have faced criticism for having allowed lies, violent rhetoric, and hate speech to flourish on their services. U.S. President Joe Biden called on Americans to combat racism and extremism during a summit at the White House that gathered experts and survivors and included bipartisan local leaders.

YouTube said it will expand its policies on violent extremism to remove content that glorifies violent acts, even if the creators of the videos are not related to a terrorist organization. The video streaming site already prohibits violent incitement, but in at least some cases has not applied existing policies to videos promoting militia groups involved with the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol.