The Other 80%: YouTube Outside of the U.S. “ Even as YouTube serves as a major vector in the U.S. for mis- and disinformation about Covid-19 and election fraud, activists who track social media around the world say that the video platform plays an even more problematic role in other countries. ” Vladimir Putin’s use of online disinformation over many years to try to justify Russia’s aggression against Ukraine provides a grim reminder of how violent actors can exploit social media platforms. In the most egregious example of this phenomenon, Facebook employees failed beginning as early as 2014 to act on waves of online misinformation and hateful attacks in Myanmar that contributed to the ethnic cleansing of more than 700,000 Muslim Rohingya by that country’s military and allied Buddhist groups. In response to a global outcry, Meta Platforms (then Facebook) belatedly acknowledged that it did not do enough to prevent its platform from being used to pursue what the U.S.has recognized as genocide. The company has substantially expanded its content moderation efforts in Myanmar and several other politically volatile countries.67 In an open letter published in April 2022, a group of more that 30 civil society groups argued that in the years leading up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the major social media platforms repeated some of the mistakes Meta made in Myanmar. The platforms tolerated the spread of Russian disinformation about Ukraine and allowed themselves to be manipulated by coordinated Kremlin campaigns to mass-report content critical of Russia or Putin as violating platform rules.68 While all of the platforms need to be more vigilant, a distinction has emerged, Dia Kayyali, one of the organizers of the letter, told Tech Policy Press. An associate director for advocacy at Mnemonic, a group that archives and investigates digital information about human rights violations, Kayyali said that recently, “Meta and Twitter have made significant efforts in these areas.” Conversely, the activist added, YouTube’s parent, Google, “has deeply underinvested in civil society engagement and due diligence, especially considering what a huge company it is.”69 Beyond its failure to sufficiently police harmful content, Kayyali emphasizes, YouTube frequently removes violent videos intended to preserve evidence of war crimes. Even as YouTube serves as a major vector in the U.S. for mis- and disinformation about Covid-19 and election fraud, Kayyali and others who track social media around the world say that the video platform plays an even more problematic role in other countries. More than 80% of YouTube’s traffic comes from outside the U.S., and even less is known about its business practices and impact on the information environment beyond its home market.70 YouTube disputes these criticisms. Its human content moderators “support numerous languages, including Rus- HOW YOUTUBE SPREADS HARMFUL CONTENT – AND WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT 15