ISLAMABAD: Google has pledged to work with the government, business, and civil society to provide voters reliable and useful information while protecting its platforms from misuse as Pakistanis get ready to cast their ballots on February 8 to choose representatives for the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies.
Google stated in a news release on Thursday that it is aware that individuals require pertinent and helpful information to help them navigate the electoral process in the lead-up to elections. We display data on how and where to vote across our products, sourced from reputable, nonpartisan organizations, and make this information easily accessible through useful product features.
Google’s ranking algorithms are intended to highlight reliable sources and give users context for a range of election-related information. Furthermore, links to credible resources on “how to vote” and “how to register to vote” will be included on the Google homepage.
In order to connect users to high-quality election news and information, YouTube’s recommendation system will prominently surface content and pertinent context from reputable sources, including local and national news sources on the homepage, in search results, and the “Up Next” panel.
Google has established a Google Trends page, a tool that helps expose the top questions, themes, and interests in the parties competing in the elections, to let the public and media explore what people care about in this election. Along with data on the most popular election-related searches nationwide, the page offers unique insights into what people are looking for.
In order to give journalists the information they need to cover elections responsibly, Google will host a number of seminars. Among the topics covered will be digital security, news verification tools, and Google Trends usage.
“In the run-up to the election, we have focused our efforts on supporting Pakistanis who are expected to cast their vote by helping them connect to useful and relevant election-related information online,” said Farhan Qureshi, Google’s Country Director for Pakistan. Ahead of the election season, we have also made investments in the news ecosystem and trained newsrooms and journalists in the art of providing reliable and authoritative news. We recently introduced the Google Trends Pakistan General Election website to facilitate journalists access to this information for their reporting.
Google and YouTube have long-standing procedures in place to ensure the security of their platforms, even during elections. The Community Guidelines on YouTube prohibit hate speech, harassment, violent provocation, technically modified video, and several forms of disinformation related to elections. The platforms utilize a blend of human reviewers and machine learning algorithms to detect and eliminate content that contravenes their regulations.
Qureshi went on, “We’ve been working to make sure the proper systems and policies are in place to support the country’s elections. Election integrity is a top priority for YouTube.” In addition to providing links to reliable and high-quality content, we quickly identify and eliminate offensive content using machine learning and in-house reviewers. Our objective is to strike the correct balance between safeguarding our community from damage and allowing a range of opinions to flourish on YouTube.
